There was no play possible between Yorkshire and Kent on day three at a sodden Emerald Headingley.

Heavy morning rain has severely dented the chances of a positive result for either side in this LV= Insurance County Championship fixture, one which remains in the first innings.

Replying to Kent’s 305 all out, Yorkshire will begin tomorrow’s final day on 240 for five, trailing by 65 with Gary Ballance only nine runs away from a 41st career first-class century.

Umpires Peter Hartley and Richard Kettleborough inspected the puddled outfield at 11am and called a close to the day almost immediately.

A contrivance aside, it is now difficult to see how this Group Three clash will end in anything other than a pursuit of bonus points in a draw.

Yorkshire currently have three bonus points and Kent four.

While Ballance heads towards his first century since July 2019 following illness and injury, Kent’s 20-year-old seamer Nathan Gilchrist will be looking to build upon his first two first-class wickets which he claimed on day two.

Impressive Gilchrist forced Tom Kohler-Cadmore to play on and trapped Harry Brook lbw in 12 threatening overs in only his second game at this level.

Like Ballance, the former England Test left-hander, Gilchrist was born in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Yorkshire came into this fixture second in Group Three behind Lancashire having won three and drawn one of their opening four games.

Kent were bottom of the table having lost three and drawn one.

Meanwhile, Yorkshire captain Steve Patterson has had this to say of Kent batsman Jack Leaning: 

“Jack played well, and we know he’s a good player. He’s played some great knocks for us in the past. 

“What impressed me was that on the back of a pair against us at their place, it took him 29 balls here to get off the mark. But he never got flustered and waited for his opportunity to score.

“When lads are your friends and you’ve played with them for a long time, like I have with Jack, all you want to see is them be successful.

“We won a couple of Championships together and have all those wonderful memories.

“A change of scenery and a new opportunity will do wonders for him.

“He’s had a tough start to this year, but he got that big double hundred last year for Kent. 

“I think the future will be bright for him there. If he continues to play like he did on day one here, he’ll score a lot of runs.”