Amid the extraordinary scene of the players deciding whether the conditions were fit in which to play before the umpires finally adjudicated, last night’s totesport League clash at Chelmsford between Essex and Surrey ended at around 9.15pm without resolution. The two teams shared the four points on offer – an outcome that marginally benefited the hosts, but which in truth was to neither side’s advantage since both were avowedly searching a win to keep alive their hopes of avoiding relegation from Division One.

An acquiescent Lions’ skipper, Jonathan Batty said afterwards: “We were absolutely desperate to play. Towards the end the conditions weren’t too dissimilar to when we started. We (Essex and Surrey) disagreed and the umpires made their decision. That’s life and that’s what they’re there for.”

Batty added: “When you play under lights you get dew anyway, so that shouldn’t really come into it. You can dry the ball; if it gets too wet you can change it, so that shouldn’t be an issue. It’s really the under foot conditions and if people are going to hurt themselves. Obviously, we can’t have professional athletes charging around and hurting themselves. The umpires thought it was unfit. That was their decision and we go along with it.”

When a match already reduced to 32 overs per side was halted by rain one ball into the 26th over the Eagles, who had won the toss and elected to bat, had reached a moderate 135 for five. But for Will Jefferson’s unbeaten 61, the hosts would have been even more relieved that the match was eventually called off.

The tall Jefferson, who opened his account with boundaries either side of the wicket in the second over – bowled by Phil Sampson – brought up his fourth one-day score of fifty or more this summer in the third of four insipid overs from the former Surrey captain Adam Hollioake, off 71 balls.

The pick of the visitors’ attack was Martin Bicknell, who collected season best limited-overs figures of three for 22. All of his victims were caught behind. The second, James Middlebrook – who clubbed sixes off Doshi and Murtagh – went to a spectacular take, away to the keeper’s right.

When James Foster, attempting to force the pace, was out to Bicknell’s slower ball four overs later the 35-year-old all-rounder recorded his 400th limited-overs victim in county cricket. It would have been fitting if the feat had been influential to the outcome, but the weather had the final say.

For Surrey, it was not a good day all in all following the announcement that Robert Key, with whom they had been strongly linked, had signed a lucrative extension to his contract with Kent.

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