County Championship round-up: Draws for Yorkshire and Essex

Yorkshire were denied the opportunity to chase 114 in the final 21 overs by bad light as Kent secured a draw on the final day of their County Championship Division One clash at Headingley.

Umpires Graham Lloyd and Steve O'Shaughnessy halted play before the Yorkshire chase could start, following impressive innings from Kent trio Ben Compton (93), Grant Stewart (90) and Ollie Robinson (85 not out).

Kent looked to be in safe waters at 384-6 in their second innings, a lead of 104 and time running out.

But Yorkshire captain Steve Patterson inspired a burst of four wickets for nine runs in 24 balls. He claimed three of them to finish with 5-54 in 29.3 overs, only for the 38-year-old's return to go unrewarded as Kent avoided a third defeat in four games and denied their hosts a second win in three to start 2022.

Paul Walter fell agonisingly short of a maiden first-class century but his 93 ensured Essex held on to save both the game and face against Northamptonshire.

Walter anchored Essex's second innings for five-and-a-half hours before he was undone by a delivery from occasional bowler Saif Zaib (1-14) needing seven runs for his ton and three for a career-best knock.

His good work was carried on, though without the same panache, by Adam Wheater, who used up 174 balls of the day's allocation while scoring just 33 runs.

In the end, Wheater was still there to accept the handshake of visiting captain Ricardo Vasconcelos on the draw just after 5pm with Essex on 328-9.

Off-spinner Rob Keogh wheeled away relentlessly for 33 overs to claim 4-51 for Northants, supported by seamer Tom Taylor who charged in to return figures of 3-62, but their efforts were in vain.

Poor weather denied Gloucestershire's Chris Dent the chance to establish