Hampshire (109 & 76-2) trail Lancashire (456) by 271 runs 

Hampshire’s slim chances of getting anything out of this Specsavers County Championship Division One clash with Lancashire took a distinct upturn after no play was possible following lunch on day three as the glorious weather of the first two days turned more typically Mancunian.

The visitors will take great heart from a captivating morning session which saw them battle through to lunch with eight wickets still intact and the score 76-2, leaving them trailing Lancashire’s first inning score by 271 runs with three sessions to bat.

A gloomy but crucially rain-free Emirates Old Trafford greeted the players in the morning and the Hampshire pair of Michael Carberry and James Vince must have known they were in for a tough examination from James Anderson as they resumed on 22-1, still trailing the hosts by 325 runs.

Predictably, given the helpful conditions, it wasn’t long before England’s record Test wicket taker struck and just 11 balls had been delivered when Anderson got his fifth to angle across Carberry who edged behind to the diving Alex Davies for 16.

The former England opener looked unhappy with umpire Michael Gough’s decision as he trudged off, motioning to his batting partner that the ball may have deflected off his leg rather than the willow although replays were inconclusive.

Afterwards, Hampshire Dale Benkenstein said: “Carbs didn’t touch it. I was standing behind and I thought it had come straight off his bat. 

“But then, looking closely, as we are lucky to do, you can clearly see it hits his back leg and there is a big red mark there. 

“The umpire gets one chance and it looked pretty good. 

“It was a beautiful delivery and it was just unlucky for Carbs. 

“He is very disappointed because he knows what is at stake in the game.”

With just one run added to the overnight score and Anderson steaming in, the prospects of Hampshire getting through to lunch without further losses seemed as bleak as the weather so credit goes to Vince and Will Smith who rebuilt the innings with determination and grit.

Smith took 43 balls to get off the mark but had reached 13 not out by the interval while at the other end Vince progressed to an unbeaten 39 off 147 balls which included a top edged six off Neil Wagner whose aggressive short pitched bowling contributed to an engrossing session.

Many have seen this game as a rehearsal for Vince’s elevation to the England Test squad and it was obvious this was an innings that mattered, after the Hampshire captain had been run out for a duck in his side’s disastrous first innings.

As the players took lunch, the rain predicted for the afternoon duly arrived and did not let up for the remainder of the day.

But with the forecast far more favourable for day four, there is still much work for Hampshire to do.