Water under the covers leaves Northamptonshire opener Ben Duckett stranded on 282 not out
Rain, 'topography' prevent shot at history
Northamptonshire opener Ben Duckett has finished his side's opening round county match against Sussex just 18 runs short of a rare triple century after the final two days of the match were abandoned despite no rain falling on either day.
Duckett, a 21-year-old left-hander, had defied Sussex's attack for most of the opening two days of the match at The County Ground in Northampton, hammering 38 fours and two sixes to be 282 not out when rain forced an early finish to day two.
Quick Single: All the results from round one of county cricket
With Duckett just 18 runs short of a triple century, and 49 runs away of the highest individual score in Northamptonshire history, the home side was every chance to continue batting on day three to allow their young star a shot at history.
But the elements intervened, with heavy rain on the night of day two seeping under the covers and leaving several damp areas on the outfield.
Despite no rain on days three and four, the cloudy skies and lack of wind meant the playing surface didn't recover and both days were abandoned without a ball being bowled.
Words cannot describe how gutted I am. Very frustrating two days. Just want to thank everyone for their amazing support 🙌🏽 👊🏼
— Ben Duckett (@BenDuckett1) April 13, 2016
According to a report on the club's official website northantscricket.com: "the circumstances of the lost play were very frustrating with water having seeped under the covers due to the topography of the ground".
"We’ve had two dry days and not played any cricket and that’s not ideal for anybody," said head coach David Ripley.
"We’ve got new covers this year – more ground is covered now than ever before and this hasn’t been a problem in the past, so we have to find out what we can do."
Despite the frustration of being unable to push for a victory, Ripley was full of praise for his young opener.
I have never wanted rain to stay away as much as the past few days! And unfortunately it hasn't 👎🏼🌧
— Ben Duckett (@BenDuckett1) April 13, 2016
"Ben showed lots of qualities during that innings,” Ripley said.
"Sussex have one of the best new-ball bowlers in the country. He not only blunted him but scored freely on the first morning. And when they bowled better to him, he was patient and sat in but showed that greedy side you need to make a big score.
"He didn’t get bored. We can get ahead of ourselves as a batting group but Ben just kept ticking and showed great desire and attitude.
"It’s a great start and on the back of how well he did last year it was another nudge to people of what a good player he is."
Australian Chris Rogers remains the last triple century-maker for Northants, having scored 319 against Gloucestershire in 2006.
In other results, Jackson Bird's Nottinghamshire overcame a fourth innings collapse to beat Surrey by three wickets in a tight finish at Trent Bridge.
Surrey had posted an impressive 389 in their second innings having been asked to follow on when they could muster only 225 in reply to the home side's first innings of 446.
And the visitors were on track for an improbable victory when a collapse of 4-15 left the home side in deep trouble at 5-100 needing 169 to win.
But the home side showed impressive fight, especially in the wake of the shock retirement of teammate James Taylor, to hold on and reach the target seven wickets down.
Bird finished with match figures of 5-119 on debut for Notts.
Elsewhere, Hampshire held on for a draw against Warwickshire, rain thwarted Durham's attempt to turn their dominance of a Rogers-led Somerset into an outright victory, while Essex completed a 10-wicket thrashing of Cameron Bancroft's Gloucestershire.