T20 Blast: All eight games abandoned as rain wrecks Friday schedule
- Published
No play was possible on Friday at Taunton - or anywhere else, for that matter...
"These conditions suit Adam Peaty more than Adam Lyth."
That post on Yorkshire's Twitter account referencing the Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer summed up the situation at Headingley and several other county grounds hoping to stage T20 Blast matches on Friday.
Rain caused the abandonment of all eight scheduled games without a ball bowled - the first time that so many matches have fallen foul of the weather in the 16-year history of England's domestic T20 competition:
Essex v Glamorgan
Hampshire v Surrey
Kent v Sussex
Lancashire v Birmingham Bears
Northamptonshire v Leicestershire
Nottinghamshire v Derbyshire
Somerset v Gloucestershire
Yorkshire v Durham
All 18 counties have either three or four group games left to play as they bid to reach the final at Edgbaston on 21 September.
Lancashire are four points clear at the top of the North Group, despite having four of their 11 matches rained off, and will qualify for the quarter-finals if they win one of their last three group matches.
Below them, the other eight teams are separated by only five points.
"This group's very tight and I'd take getting three points off the top team," said Jim Troughton, whose Birmingham Bears side beat Lancashire at Edgbaston on Sunday and saw their reverse fixture at Old Trafford washed out.
"Everyone has a chance if they string together some performances. But, if you can get some momentum at this stage, it gives you a really good chance of getting to the quarter-finals."
The South Group is evenly poised too, with just four points between leaders Sussex and fifth-placed Somerset.