It was  case of damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Glamorgan captain Jacques Rudolph came under fire for his early declaration in a rain-ruined match to try to force a result in their English County Championship match on Wednesday.

He rang the bell at 103-4, still 102 behind Derbyshire’s 205 after just 4.5 overs were bowled in Cardiff on Tuesday, hoping that the visitors may make a game of it. But Derbyshire’s coach and captain were not happy, as they had hoped to garner some more bowling points, and complained to the umpires.

‘We discussed the issue with the umpires and they cleared it with Alan Fordham [ECB’s Head of Cricket Operations],’ said Rudolph. ‘Umpire Nigel Cowley came into the dressing room to say there is a playing clause in the regulations. It is to do with the spirit of cricket and denying teams points.

‘Our decision was a declaration about positive intent.  It was not about denying Derbyshire points. We are also missing out on batting points but there was a bigger carrot and that was to try and bowl them out cheaply.’

Derbyshire elite performance director Graeme Welch said:  We were looking to bowl them out for around 150. We are trying to play the game in the right spirit and we are trying to do the right thing.’

But faced with the challenge, Derbyshire declined to pick up the gauntlet and batted the game dead. Wayne Madsen ended unbeaten on 72 when the game was called off with the hosts 209-2.

There was the inevitable bore-draw at Northampton, where the home side recovered from 13-2 to bat out the day, ending with 391-5 against Lancashire. The only point of interest there was the welfare of Richard Levi, who could not bat because of a dislocated finger.

Compiled by Mark Salter