Notts could be forgiven for thinking that things are beginning to conspire against them at Old Trafford having faced just 28 overs in the first two days against Lancashire.

Having spent most of Monday in the pavilion waiting for the rain to clear, the first two sessions of Tuesday’s play were lost to persistent rain and lingering surface water.

Notts reached 85-2 midway through the evening session before play was again suspended as intense sunlight gleaned from the metallic roof of the media centre into the eyes of Mark Wagh and Adam Voges.

When they returned to the field shortly before six o’clock, the sun had disappeared behind thick cloud creating conditions perilously close to ‘bad light’ and a howling wind blew advertising hoardings on to the outfield as Tom Smith bowled the first ball after the resumption.

“We’re only focussed on batting well throughout this innings and trying to gather as many bonus points as we can,” said Notts captain Chris Read.

“It’s difficult to see a way that we can win the game from this point if it takes a natural course and so we have to monitor what’s happening elsewhere.”

Wagh (3) and Voges (8) will resume on Wednesday with Notts standing at 89-2 and looking to build on the solid foundations laid by Alex Hales and Paul Franks who shared a 75-run opening stand.

The openers were caught behind in quick succession having registered a season’s best opening partnership for the second time in two innings.