Mark Cosgrove hit an unbeaten 99 while Darren Stevens took his 500th competitive wicket for Kent on a frustrating third day for the visitors at Leicester.

In freezing conditions at the Fischer County Ground, which saw many of the Kent players donning beanie hats in the field, home skipper Cosgrove helped his side to 174/2 before tea on the third day; yet another day of Kent’s early season which has seen the weather play an all-too-intrusive part.

The visitors had earlier been bowled out for 264 in a morning session which saw the players leave the field three times with snow showering the ground. Five sessions have now been lost to the elements in this fixture, following on from Kent’s opening game of the season at Worcestershire being called off without a single ball bowled.

Former Kent batsman Neil Dexter was also in the runs for his new side on day three, making an unbeaten 57 in an unbroken partnership of 159 with his captain. The partnership coming at more than five runs an over as Kent struggled to stem the tide in the afternoon session. Cosgrove was one short of his century when the weather brought the players from the field for the final time shortly before tea, his innings up to that point including 19 fours from the 106 balls he had faced.

Resuming on 233/8, Kent would have been satisfied to pick up a second batting point in the morning session by passing 250 before Mitch Claydon (24) and Calum Haggett (13) were both removed by Zak Chappell, leaving the visitors all out for 264.

The Leicestershire reply did not begin well, with both openers dismissed before the lunch interval. Matt Coles had Angus Robson out edging behind for a fifth ball duck, giving wicket-keeper Adam Rouse a first catch on his County Championship debut.

Stevens then chalked up his 500th wicket in competitive cricket for his adopted county, as he produced a gem of an away-swinger to have Paul Horton caught behind, again by Rouse, for 3.

At that stage, Leicestershire found themselves in a spot of bother at 15/2, before Cosgrove and Dexter’s quick scoring in a bitterly cold afternoon session left the home side in a decent enough position heading into the final day.

The draw remains the most likely of results with just the one day’s play to come, as both sides continue to scrap for points in the highly competitive Division Two. Kent require one more wicket to pick up their first bowling bonus point of the campaign, following the washout at Worcester in their opening game of the season.

Speaking at the close of play, Kent seamer Mitch Claydon said that the conditions had played a huge factor in the day’s play.

“Darren Stevens, who has played 20 years of county cricket, said it was as cold as he’s ever been on a cricket pitch”, he said. “The lads had two pairs of trousers on, five tops including two jumpers, woolly hats, and it was pretty horrible.

“We’ve waited so long to actually get out there and bowl, and we were probably a little bit too eager to be honest.  Mark Cosgrove played beautifully, and it’s a great cricket pitch for this time of year, their groundsman deserves full credit. But we can turn up tomorrow, take a couple of wickets and get into them.”

Stumps, day three, Leicestershire v Kent at Leicester, Apr 24-27 2016:

Leicestershire 174/2 (Cosgrove 99*, Dexter 57*) trail Kent 264 (Bell-Drummond 124; McKay 3-61) by 90 runs with 8 wickets remaining in the first innings

Leicestershire: Horton, Robson, Dexter, Cosgrove*, O’Brien†, Pettini, White, Raine, McKay, Chappell, Shreck

Kent: Bell-Drummond, Dickson, Denly, Northeast*, Stevens, Blake, Rouse†, Haggett, Coles, Claydon, Riley

Points: Leicestershire 3*, Kent 2*

Full scorecard available here