Friends Life t20, at Edgbaston:  Warwickshire 138-5 v Yorkshire
No result, 1pt each

WARWICKSHIRE’S hopes of getting their T20 campaign back on track ended in soggy frustration on Friday night as their home game with Yorkshire was washed out less than half-way through.

With Jim Troughton showing some welcome form with a perky 49 from 30 balls, the Bears made a decent fist of batting in varying degrees of rain and were 138 for five from 18 overs when the drizzle, which had grown steadily heavier, finally turned torrential and the umpires took the players off.

Rather ironic, really. Over the years many wonderful games of first-class cricket have been infuriatingly halted by the arrival of one droplet of rain within a three-mile radius yet the slap-and-tickle of Twenty20 is allowed to continue when its raining cats and dogs.

Anyway, the downpour never relented, much to the frustration of a chilly crowd of 4,200 and a Warwickshire team which badly needs wins to make up for their poor progress so far.

The Bears will travel to Leek to face Derbyshire on Sunday (noon start) under pressure for a victory to at least retain a chance for when their last five fixtures start at home to Derbyshire on July 6.

Jonathan Trott was back for his first T20 of the season but England’s returning hero soon returned to the pavilion. From the first ball of the innings, he took a single.

From the second, tucked to leg by Neil Carter, he embarked on another but Carter didn’t and Trott was run out by yards.

In steady drizzle, Carter and Will Porterfield prevented a clatter of early wickets with a lively stand of 52 in 38 balls.

Carter looked more like his old self for 35 from 23 balls before his middle-peg was knocked out by Azeem Rafiq.

Darren Maddy perished in similar fashion but the Bears reached the ten-over mark at 75 for three, a stronger position than they have occupied at that point in most of the group games.

After Porterfield (34, 26 balls) was superbly caught by Rafiq at deep-square-leg from a hoik that would have gone for six, Troughton took responsibility.

As the rain thickened up, the captain worked the ball around skilfully against bowlers increasingly hampered by a wet ball.

He was just gearing up for the big assault in the last two overs when the umpires at last took the players off in rain which was little short of torrential.

The forecast is much better for tomorrow when Warwickshire (without Trott) will pay their third first-team visit to Leek – and their first since 1992 when their low-key display in an eight-wicket Sunday League was not helped by hurried pre-match preparation caused by them getting caught up in congestion caused by the Leek half-marathon.

• Warwickshire 100 years ago were battling through a heatwave on their way to their first County Championship title.  Algernon J Halford kept a blog that season and you can read it at www.birminghammail.net/warks1911.