Cold weather across England and Wales could ruin the start of the 2013 County Championship season.
With a little under two weeks to go until the start of the County Championship season cold weather is threatening to delay the competition.
Poor weather in recent years has caused disruption to the county cricket schedule and with snow in much of the country it looks set for a repeat performance.
Northants chief executive David Smith has expressed his concern as their ground, Wantage Road, is currently covered in snow.
“The temperature at this time of year is a major concern and I believe it’s the wettest March on record,” Smith told the BBC.
“We appear to be about three or four weeks behind where we should be in terms of temperatures.”
In last season’s County Championship nine of Northants’ 16 fixtures were drawn results because of the weather, as well as two of their Twenty20 matches being cancelled due to rain.
It is not just Northants that have had to worry about their start to the campaign, as the bad weather has reached all four corners of the British Isles.
Both Middlesex and Essex have taken to doing net sessions under a marquee, after the rain has stopped them training outside properly.
Many county sides have enjoyed their pre-season tours in the Caribbean, Abu Dhabi and beyond, but their players could be in for quite a shock when they return to the waterlogged and snow-covered pitches of England and Wales.
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