THIS SEASON’S county championship campaign is acquiring all the glamour and grime of trench warfare, rival teams heroically battling up to their knees in rainwater and mud in desperate efforts to steal a few precious feet of ground.

With three weeks to go, just 21 points separate the top eight sides. Any victory will now have a massive impact on the table but so unfavour-able has been the weather that outright results have been few and far between. A tournament that has been made to seem less relevant than ever by the rise of Twenty20 needs the rest of this month to remain dry to permit an attractive and meaningful climax to an event many players still view as the county prize they most want to win.

Four teams remain genuine contenders - Nottinghamshire, Somerset, Durham and Kent. Since they already have the points on the board, perhaps Notts and Somerset, first and second, are best placed.

Their match at Trent Bridge was abandoned as a draw at 9.15am yesterday but at least they got in 94.1 overs earlier in the game, play that allowed Notts to pick up three bonus points and Somerset two.

Durham, whose home game against Lancashire was also called off shortly after breakfast, are also strongly positioned in that they, like Somerset, have three games left to play, Notts only two. On paper, they appear the strongest side and should be bolstered by the imminent return of Steve Harmison.

Durham, who joined the championship in 1992, have never won the title and nor have Somerset, who have been trying since 1891. The sides meet on Tuesday and Somerset may be tempted to anaesthetise the Taunton surface to keep at bay a pace attack that is as strong as any in the country.

A measure of how wet - and cautious - this campaign has been can be gauged by the fact that four years ago Warwickshire set a record by winning the title with only five wins. So far this time, Durham have won five matches, Notts and Kent four apiece and Somerset just three, the last of them seven weeks ago.

Justin Langer, the Somerset captain, confirmed yesterday that every point is being fought over. “We would have hung around here all day to try to pick up one or two more bonus points but the groundsman said there was no chance. Even before the game started, the outfield was drenched and Friday’s rain was the final nail in the coffin. It is all very close. Tuesday is now a huge game for us against Durham.

“For me personally it would be a massive thing to lead Somerset to a first title. Whatever happens, we have come a long way in two years just to be competing for the championship.”

After Durham, Somerset visit Yorkshire before finishing against Lancashire. They may find both counties in uncompromising mood as they fight to escape the drop with Surrey, whose fate looks sealed.

Langer confirmed that he will be returning to Somerset for a fourth season in 2009, probably after spending a short period playing for Shane Warne’s team, Rajasthan Royals, in the Indian Premier League.

During rain breaks, dressing-rooms hum to talk of 12-month contracts and offers from Indian Twenty20 leagues. Counties, not unreasonably, want to use year-round contracts to extract compensation from IPL teams wanting to sign up their players and discourage the players themselves from joining the rebel Indian Cricket League, which is currently trying to recruit like mad.

So far, only Graeme Hick looks like joining a competition that means almost certain ostracism from county cricket. Fortunately for Hick, he announced his retirement from the English game last week, so he is now a free agent.