IN the end, the question of whether Derbyshire could manage the improbable or only the downright difficult counted for nothing.

The fourth day of their LV County Championship match against Worcestershire at New Road was washed out without a ball bowled.

So we will never know if Derbyshire could have even come close to scoring the 370 more runs they needed in the day to chase down an all-time county record high 404 to win the match.

Batting all day and not losing would also have been an acceptable outcome and, with Simon Jones unable to bowl on the final day because of hamstring trouble, the draw – and just possibly better – might have been achievable.

Losing time to rain quickly cut out the run chase option and, by 1.20pm, the New Road ground was so wet that both sides had to accept there would be no play.

The draw was Derbyshire's fourth in succession in the Championship – all of them significantly rain-affected – but did give them another day's rest before the start of their match against Middlesex at Derby, starting tomorrow (11am).

Head of cricket John Morris was unhappy with his side's bowling at Worcester but is unlikely to make widespread changes for this game, though he may go back to playing with a specialist spinner in Nayan Doshi or Jake Needham.

Middlesex will be without their England batsman Owais Shah, who will play for the England Lions against South Africa at Leicester on Thursday, though Ed Joyce and Eion Morgan, who are both in the Lions squad for the match at Derby on Saturday, will still be available.