Yorkshire's final charge held up by rain at Headingley

The second day of Yorkshire's final-round Bob Willis Trophy clash between against Leicestershire was washed out without a ball bowled at Headingley, damaging their hopes of reaching the competition's five-day Lord's final.

Second in the North Group and five points behind Derbyshire prior to this fixture, Yorkshire need to finish top of the group and then as one of the best two group winners to advance to the showpiece final on September 23.

Heavy morning rain forced an early lunch at 12.15pm before another burst meant the postponement of a planned 2pm start. Umpires Peter Hartley and James Middlebrook later inspected in dry but gloomy conditions shortly after 4pm and deemed the outfield unplayable.

Only 60.3 overs have been bowled across the two days, with Yorkshire 36 for 2 in reply to Leicestershire's first-innings 124.

That means that so far across the White Rose county's three home games in the North Group, they have lost a little over 450 overs combined.

"It's been frustrating for the last three games if we're being honest," Richard Pyrah, Yorkshire's bowling coach, said. "We won the first two games away with the next three at home, where we play well. But we've not played more than two days in either of the last two games added to the rain this week.

"We've had a good start in this game and wanted to drive it home. We've still got time, fingers crossed, so we'll see what happens. With the way the league tables are, we'll have to bat well tomorrow to give ourselves a chance. If we do bat well, we'll still be in a really good position to win the game on day four.

"There's a little bit in the pitch, and it's been under cover all day today, so we'll have to work hard tomorrow morning to set it up."

Meanwhile, Yorkshire have confirmed the departure of young seamer Jared Warner, who has joined Gloucestershire, following the switch made by Josh Shaw last year.

"It feels amazing to have signed for Gloucestershire and I can't wait to get started," Warner said. "As a bowler my main strength is my pace, and I'd like to think this can complement the current Gloucestershire bowling attack nicely.

"It wasn't an easy decision to leave Yorkshire, but I feel the opportunity to go to Gloucestershire and hopefully play regular first-team cricket there is the best decision for myself and the development of my career going forward."