Flash floods yesterday and further heavy overnight rain seriously disrupted Yorkshire's Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy semi-final showdown with Surrey at Headingley today.

Umpires John Hampshire and John Dudlestone were making an early inspection of the ground but with rain still falling the prospects were pretty bleak.

Fortunately, play can run into tomorrow and Friday if necessary which is some consolation to the 4,000 or so fans who have already bought tickets.

Yorkshire secretary, David Ryder, said this morning: "After all the torrential downpours we need at least two to three hours of dry weather but there appears to be little sign of that yet.

"There is not much that groundsman Andy Fogarty and his staff can do while the rain is still falling."

Although Yorkshire went into the game as underdogs after Surrey had last week completed a Championship double over them, their one-day batting form this season gives hope that they can pull off a shock win and make it to the competition's final for the first time since 1969 when they beat Derbyshire by 69 runs in what was then the Gillette Cup.

In the three matches up to this summer's semi-finals, Yorkshire have not made a lower score than the 259 runs they knocked up against Devon in the first round.

Any one of their players is capable of turning in a match-winning performance in a one-day contest and nobody is keener to do just that than skipper Darren Lehmann.

It would be a grand gesture before returning to Australia in a fortnight's time to prepare for his country's visit to Kenya. Lehmann has been as disappointed and as puzzled as everyone else by Yorkshire's form in the Championship this season but a win against Surrey would help to make amends. Certainly, Surrey are not taking the game lightly and opening batsman Ian Ward, who scored an unbeaten century off Yorkshire last week, thinks it will be tough.

"Our two Championship wins over Yorkshire will have no bearing on this match," he said.

"It will be an entirely different sort of game and we are very much aware how good Yorkshire are."