The prospect of Yorkshire's match against Middlesex reaching an exciting climax at Scarborough on Saturday was dashed by bad weather which washed out the entire final day's play.

Light rain during the morning gave way to a torrential early afternoon downpour which soon flooded the outfield and put thoughts of any play out of the question.

It was a bitter blow to Yorkshire, who were well poised to win the game and boost their chances of avoiding relegation to Division Two of the Championship.

They were due to resume on 39 without loss with a further 236 required for victory and Middlesex would have been without fast bowlers Scott Styris and Chad Keegan, who both sustained back injuries earlier in the game.

Yorkshire took ten points from the contest to Middlesex's 11 and the result leaves the two sides still occupying the bottom two places.

But Yorkshire director of cricket David Byas said he was heartened by the positive way his side had played and it had given him confidence that they could still avoid relegation.

Yorkshire have no match this week but in their final two games of the season, both at Headingley, they come up against fellow strugglers Nottinghamshire and Durham.

They currently stand two points behind Notts, who enjoy a game in hand.

Byas paid tribute to Joe Sayers for carrying his bat in the first innings and also to leg-spinners Mark Lawson and Adil Rashid, who had bowled out Middlesex in the second innings to set up Yorkshire's victory chase.

"They are an exciting and brilliant pair of youngsters and they bring a new dimension to the balance of the side," he said.

"To produce two quality leggies' is a real fillip for Yorkshire cricket and playing both of them in the same side gives you some insurance in that you would hope that at least one of them would get it right. Both of them did so in this game and it made for fascinating cricket to watch.

"Naturally, I'm disappointed that we were robbed of the chance of going on to win the match but there is absolutely nothing you can do about the weather."