Bad light and rain left both supporters and players frustrated as only 19 balls were delivered on the second day of Kent’s Specsavers County Championship clash with Northamptonshire.

After a flurry of 18 wickets on day one, the Division 2 rivals spent much of the day playing cards or honing techniques in the indoor nets as a grey cloud layer blanketed Canterbury for the majority of the day.

Overnight showers coupled with a gloomy September morning delayed the start until 1pm, when Northamptonshire resumed on 71 for eight in reply to Kent’s 137 all out.

The visiting ninth-wicket pair of Richard Gleeson and Brett Hutton added five to their side’s overnight score when, despite the full use of floodlights, umpires Michael Burns and Paul Pollard were forced to take the players off in gloomy conditions.

The light barely improved all afternoon and, by 4.45pm when the officials finally abandoned play for the day, they did so to a virtually empty ground.

Play on day three is scheduled to start at 10.30am.