Yorkshire's World Cup warm-up match against India at Harrogate yesterday had to be abandoned before a ball had been bowled because torrential rain from the previous two nights had seeped on to the pitch and left it in a potentially dangerous condition.

It was a huge disappointment for both teams and the 1,000 or so spectators who were already in the St George's Road ground when the announcement that the game had been called off was made well before the scheduled starting time.

Harrogate Cricket Club officials were also clearly distressed by the abandonment which will not have helped their efforts to bring back championship cricket to the ground next year.

They were not to blame, however, for around two inches of rain on Friday and another downpour in the early hours of yesterday morning caused water to run down the slope and under the covers onto the square.

As soon as captains David Byas and Mohammad Azharuddin saw the dampness on the pitch they believed batsmen could be exposed to serious danger and that opinion was supported by umpires Peter Willey and Tony Clarkson.

''It is very unfortunate but the wet patch was exactly on a fast bowler's length and it was felt that even one ball could prove one too many,'' said Willey.

India's consultant coach, Bobby Simpson, the former Australian captain, said: ''We desperately wanted to play this game but we are still ahead with our World Cup planning. One of our main concerns is that openers Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly did not have long at the crease in the warm-up match at Leicester and what they needed today was time in the middle."

Yorkshire committee member Eric Houseman, a representative of North District which includes Harrogate area, said: "It is a disaster that the game could not go ahead but the groundsman has worked around the clock and is no way to blame.

''This could be a setback to Harrogate's hopes of staging championship cricket again."

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