Umpires Tony Hill and Kumar Dharmasena abandoned the second day’s play shortly after lunch with pools of water standing on the outfield despite the efforts of the ground staff who had started their popping up operation before dawn.

It was the first time since the Ashes Test at Lord’s in 1964 the opening two days of a Test in England had been washed out and further rain is forecast tomorrow and Monday.

More than Ł1 million will be refunded to the 30,000 spectators who had bought tickets for the first two days through an England and Wales Cricket Board insurance scheme.

Warwickshire will not lose out on ticket sales although advance sales for the dead rubber were about Ł400,000 down on budget. But Warwickshire are expected to take a hit on reduced revenue from bars and catering outlets. The county operate a joint venture, Edgbaston Experience Ltd, with caterers Compass.

This is the last Test match at Edgbaston until 2015 after Warwickshire missed out to Midlands rivals Nottinghamshire in the bidding process for international matches from next season. Edgbaston will not stage an Ashes Test next summer nor a lucrative Test against India in 2014.
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Warwickshire have sold 17,000 tickets – 8,000 below Edgbaston’s increased capacity – for Saturday’s third day and hope that an improved weather forecast will increase that number.

They have also offered free admission for Monday’s final day for those who buy tickets for Sunday. Only 4,000 tickets have been sold in advance for the fourth day.

“We will need to know how much we can pull back over the last three days before we have a clear idea of the figures,” Warwickshire chief executive Colin Povey said.

On a brighter note, counties are in line to receive Ł1 million each to improve their facilities from the England and Wales Cricket Board’s Ł130 million broadcasting deal with ESPN Star Sports.

The funding will be ring-fenced for capital projects, as part of the new memorandum of understanding that the ECB is negotiating with the first-class counties and which will run for four years from 2014. Counties will not be permitted to spend the ECB money on players’ or coaches’ salaries.

Details of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) are still being finalised and Gordon Hollins, the ECB’s managing director of county business, declined to discuss figures. But The Daily Telegraph understands that county chief executives were told at a recent meeting at Lord’s that they could expect Ł1 million each to be made available for capital projects.

“It’s highly likely that there will be more revenue available for counties. We are looking at various ways that it can be invested to make sure that the game gets a good return from it,” Hollins said. “I wouldn’t like to talk about numbers because they are not confirmed, but the principle of providing counties with support to do capital projects is one that we do endorse.

“As an organisation we support loud and clear the need for facilities at all of our grounds to be world class because that is the way you attract people and encourage them to come and watch cricket.”

In the past the ECB has provided funding to counties for specific projects such as floodlights or new drainage. This time counties will be asked to submit a business plan to Lord’s and the ECB will provide funding to support each county’s needs.

“We have 18 counties with 18 different sets of priorities and we are trying to align the funding model to help counties achieve their individual objectives rather than being one-size-fits-all,” Hollins said. “We want to make sure that by the end of the term of the MOU that cricket is in a stronger, more robust position.”