WORCESTERSHIRE head groundsman Tim Packwood admits standing water on the outfield has nowhere to go after play was abandoned for the third successive day at New Road.

Worcestershire and Kent are yet to take to the field in the Specsavers County Championship Division Two opener after umpires Richard Illingworth and Ian Gould called off the penultimate day.

The fourth and final day is scheduled for tomorrow (Wednesday, 11am).

"Until you actually get two dry days back to back, which we've not had for about a fortnight, nothing is really going to start to dry out,” said Packwood.

“About eight millimetres of rain fell on Monday and it is basically just topping up the water table which is already very high.

“The water is just sitting around on the outfield now and hasn't really got anywhere to drain away to.”

Packwood added: “The ground was playable on Friday. If anything, the rain on Saturday afternoon was a lot heavier than anticipated.

"That has probably topped it up to the levels where it was touch and go Monday as to whether the players would get on.

"But there were just areas of the ground where the best way to describe it was that it had turned to like a jelly-blancmange so when you put your foot down, it wasn't actually wet (on the surface) but the ground was starting to move because of the height of the water table."

The groundstaff had been putting in 12 to 13-hour shifts for the past week at New Road to try to get the opening match under way on time.

"You can cover as much up as you can and even when you put sheets down, water will find its own level,” said Packwood.

"What tends to then happen is it runs off the sheets and back underneath and you can sometimes end up with worse puddles than if you have left sheets off at time.”