Toby may have been joking about the beach, but there are strong shadows on the outfield as the mopping up operation continues.

Dare we say it, on a green top after a day like this, but these might be the best batting conditions of the first two days coming up in 25 minutes.

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Toby messaged at 15:26 when the covers were last being hauled off. Glad your patience is set to be rewarded with at least some cricket...

Better late than never... we'll have live cricket from 6pm until bad light inevitably stops play...

Whisper it, but the outfield covers are starting to come off at the Oval.

The skies are lighter to the west and there's nothing more to worry about lurking on the radar...

Let's hope our stoicism is rewarded with a brilliant final session.

While we wait for the last of the rain to blow over at the Oval, England's women have finished their innings in Cardiff in their World T20 warm-up against Australia.

Click here for more.

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Even the big covers are on now.. looks like maybe another 45 minutes or so of torment but the rest of the day should be dry.

Hopefully the ground staff have one more big shift in them after 17:00 BST and we can enjoy some final session cricket...

Mother Nature has a sense of humour... and might just be a Hampshire fan, y'know...

Covers back on. Looks like it's going to get worse before it gets better too, judging by the radar.

Good news.

Though for how long, remains to be seen...

Ready for some more false hope?

The covers are off again... wonder if we might be able to squeeze a few overs in before the final blob of Monday's rain arrives?

We can't have nice things...

The covers are coming back on to the square at the Oval as the rain returns.

The dream of a restart in 13 minutes has gone...

It'll be worth the wait when play does resume, though, you can be sure of that...

It's like one mind...

The players will take tea at 15:30 BST with a view to play restarting at 15:50 BST... provided no further rain falls during the break, and that's by no means a given.

The main positive is that the umpires and ground staff have done everything possible to ensure play for us today, for which I am grateful...

The bed in question is the huge ground sheets being wrestled around in gusting winds by the ground staff at the Oval.

They have earned their keep today already, and I think there'll be plenty more work to do in the next three-and-a-half hours or so

Now, the covers are coming off at the Oval, the skies have lightened considerably and the rain has stopped.

I'm not getting too excited, however, because my weather app won't let me... there's still a big old blob of wet stuff to the west of the capital and it's heading east...

For those asking, there is indeed some cricket ongoing in the country right now.

England's women are facing Australia in their T20 World Cup warm-up match at a mercifully dry Sophia Gardens.

You can follow the score here.

And you can listen to the TMS World Cup preview by clicking above... the perfect way to spend a rain delay.

It's just gone 15:00 BST.

In theory there are 58.2 overs remaining in the day.

Tea was due to be taken at 16:00 BST but looking at the weather radar it doesn't look great for the next 45 minutes or so, so it would make sense to me to take an early tea and hope to resume play as soon as possible after 4pm for a monster evening session, hopefully played without any further interruption.

If only I had any power...

You're going to like this.

In 1894, the American football team from Gallaudet College, a school for the deaf in Washington DC, was playing against another deaf team.

Paul Hubbard, the quarterback, didn’t want to risk the other team seeing him use Sign Language to explain the play to his teammates, so he asked them to form a tight circle formation, now known as a huddle. Click here for more., external

132 years later and it's ubiquitous in pretty much every sport.

Making the most of rain delays by giving you some great pub trivia.

Rain stops playpublished at 14:45 BST 8 June

14:45 BST 8 June

Surrey 421 v Hampshire 78-2

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Well, it's been a fun 59 minutes... for the school children and for Matt Fisher in particular.

He's picked up the wickets of Toby Albert and Ali Orr in the 13.2 overs we have been able to enjoy on day two, though Nick Gubbins and Jake Lehmann have batted very positively for their 29* and 14*.

Hampshire still trail by 343 with eight wickets in hand and, in theory, 58.2 overs left in the day.

There won't be that many, though this looks like a sharp shower rather than anything too prolonged.

Matt Fisher goes around the wicket to Jake Lehmann, who follows the second ball down the leg side.

Ollie Pope dives low to his right to grab the ball, but it hadn't quite carried.

Lehmann opens the face nicely from the next ball to work it to the vacant third boundary for his third boundary.

Hate to tell you, but the rain has returned... they're talking in the middle.

Jordan Clark has gone with the top-knot to corral his flowing locks for his second over.

Nick Gubbins guides his third ball past extra cover to the rope off the back foot to move to 29*.

Gubbins defends the fourth ball but gets a painful blow from the fifth, wheeling away and dropping his bat after being struck just above the thigh guard.

After a moment to compose himself and after rejecting the physio's offer of treatment he produces a textbook forward defensive shot to end the over.

Jake Lehmann guides an inswinger from Matt Fisher past mid-on for a couple of runs and then cuts the next to the boundary at backward point for his second boundary to move into double figures.

Three dot balls complete the over. the Hampshire deficit is 351 and we have 60 overs remaining in the day.