Leicestershire’s push to crown their promotion to Division One of the Rothesay County Championship with the Division Two title suffered a frustrating start as day one of their final home match against bottom-of-the-table Kent fell foul of rain and strong winds.

A wet outfield delayed the scheduled start but, even with the ground at times bathed in sunshine, the real problem was the wind, which was gusting at a strength considered to pose a risk to the safety of groundstaff attempting to remove or secure coverings on the playing area.

Umpires Hassan Adnan and Simon Widdup patiently waited in the hope that conditions would improve but with no indication that it would happen, play was abandoned for the day at around 3.40pm.

Leicestershire, who have been the Division Two front-runners all season, confirmed that next season would be their first in Division One since 2003 by drawing with Gloucestershire last week.

To be certain, mathematically, of going up as champions, they need to gain a further 24 points from their remaining two fixtures, culminating in a trip to Northamptonshire next week.

Second-placed Glamorgan, who are the only team who can deny them the title, trailed by 25 points at the start of this round. They are away to Derbyshire this week – likewise losing the first day to the weather – before wrapping up against Lancashire at home.