Not a ball was bowled in dreary Canterbury where rain washed out the third day of an otherwise intriguing Specsavers County Championship match between second division rivals Kent and Leicestershire.

Morning drizzle turned into sustained heavy rain by lunch and, with a small stream stretching from the covers to the boundary ropes, umpires Martin Saggers and Russell Warren finally abandoned play for the day shortly after 2.15pm.

A flawed, yet wonderfully poised game at its mid-point, Kent trail by only 37 runs on first innings after two days of ‘punch, and counterpunch’ cricket, so today’s inclement weather is a hammer-blow to the chances of obtaining a positive result on the fourth and final day.

Kent skipper Sam Northeast will be keen to cut a deal in the hope of pushing for a fourth-day victory that might sustain his side’s fading promotion push, while his Leicestershire counterpart, Mark Cosgrove, has virtually nothing to lose as he bids to chalk up his side’s first four-day win of the summer.

It could be that Kent will need to serve up some ‘friendly bowling’ first thing tomorrow in order to set up an afternoon run chase, but only time will tell if the skippers can agree on an equation that sits readily with both parties.