Rain in South London meant no play at all on the final day of Surrey’s LV= County Championship Division Two match against Essex, with the game abandoned as a draw at 2.40pm.
The bad weather was particularly frustrating for Essex, who were aiming to push for victory on day four after racking up a mammoth 610 for eight declared on the third day to earn themselves a first-innings lead of 270 .
Surrey, having lost both Zafar Ansari and Kumar Sangakkara on the third evening, were scheduled to resume on 95 for two in their second innings.
Rory Burns was on 41 not out and Kevin Pietersen unbeaten on eight. In the event, a match-saving innings by either batsman was not required, with the weather having the final say.
Surrey took nine points from the drawn match, and Essex 12.
And it is still raining pic.twitter.com/iPFNPkupp3
— Surrey Cricket (@surreycricket) April 29, 2015
Paul Grayson, the Essex head coach, said: “We are disappointed with not being able to get out there at all today because of the rain, obviously.
"We feel we played very well over the three days and it could well have been an interesting final day.”
Surrey captain Gareth Batty acknowledged the bad weather had come at the right time for his side, but added: "I think we would have batted out the game for a draw anyway.
"The pitch was getting better and better – it was an excellent batting surface and very hard work for the bowlers.
"The pitch started out with a little bit of live grass on it but it flattened out a lot and we didn’t bat as well as we would have liked in our first innings. To give credit to Essex, they took control of the game on the second and third days and batted extremely well."
WATCH Gareth Batty chatting about the game against @EssexCricket after rain means the match ends as a draw https://t.co/ZCTGj7nbul
— Surrey Cricket (@surreycricket) April 29, 2015