Frustration for Cidermen as rain prevents any play at The Oval

Somerset suffered a frustrating day at The Oval as the third day of their championship match against table toppers Surrey was abandoned without a ball being bowled.

After several attempts to get things started the day's play was eventually called off by umpires Graham Burgess and John Holder in the mid afternoon, to leave the Cidermen kicking their heels with disappointment.

Following yesterday's very positive performance and the late breakthrough by Ian Blackwell to remove Graham Thorpe, Somerset were hoping to get early wickets this morning and set themselves a target to chase.

As it was they will just have to wait until tomorrow and hope that the weather will be kinder to them in their attempts to get the result they feel that they have earned from this match.