The forecast for the third and final day's play at Uxbridge wasn't encouraging and, true to form, the cold English rain settled in and hovered over the ground long enough for the umpires to call off play at 1pm. Mickey Arthur, the South Africa coach, wasn't too disappointed that his side missed out on one last shot at acclimatising themselves before the Test series gets underway at Lord's on Thursday, and both teams settled for a draw.

A light drizzle delayed the 11am start and, after a brief let-up, the umpires decided on 1pm resumption. With 45 minutes to countdown the rain returned and refused to leave. A few brave spectators sat it out in the bleachers under umbrellas and raincoats until the match was called off, and slowly made their way out of the ground.

South Africa will take positives from the hundreds from Hashim Amla and Ashwell Prince, though another expensive outing from Paul Harris, the left-arm spinner, wouldn't have been too encouraging. For a depleted Middlesex, Eoin Morgan's sparkling unbeaten century was the brightest part of an otherwise average outing.

The first of four Tests starts at Lord's on July 11.

Jamie Alter is a staff writer at Cricinfo