England's third one-day international against West Indies abandoned due to rain

England's third NatWest one-day international against West Indies was
abandoned without a ball being bowled after persistent rain at
Headingley.

Umpires Kumar Dharmasena and Richard Illingworth made the decision to call off the game following a brief inspection at 1.00pm after the rain, which had also fallen all day yesterday in Leeds, left the playing surface sodden.

England had already wrapped up the series 2-0 with the sides due to meet in a one-off Twenty20 international at Trent Bridge on Sunday.

Any hope of play had looked forlorn from early this morning with the ground staff unable to prevent puddles appearing on the playing surface despite their continued efforts.

Few of an almost sell-out crowd even decided to make the trip to the ground, where England had been set to field an under-strength team.

With the series already won England's selectors opted to rest key men Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann and local favourite Tim Bresnan in the middle of a hectic summer schedule.

The abandonment will come as bad news for Yorkshire County Cricket Club, who have announced losses for the past two years, with ticket holders due a full refund.

The county, which recorded a loss of £460,000 last year after being £1.8million in the red in 2010, are, however, due to host the second Test against South Africa in August.

PA