Gloucestershire's fading promotion hopes all but disappeared amid the rain and murk which enveloped the County Ground on the opening day of the pivotal match with Surrey.

Requiring victory in order to revive their quest for a top-two finish in the LV County Championship Second Division, the home side met with bitter frustration on a day when only 28 overs were possible.

The day started well enough for them, skipper Alex Gidman winning the toss and inserting the visitors on a green-tinged pitch which had Gloucestershire's seamers slavering with anticipation. But things went more or less downhill from that point onwards.

True enough, the weather did nothing to aid Gloucestershire's cause, but then they did precious little to help themselves.

Presented with advantageous conditions, their bowlers contrived to waste the new ball and a wonderful opportunity to make early in-roads was lost amid a flurry of long hops and boundaries.

New-ball bowlers James Franklin and Ian Saxelby were equally culpable and it required the introduction of leading wicket-taker Steve Kirby to effect a semblance of control.

Jon Batty and Michael Brown may have ridden their luck on occasions, but they took full advantage of some wayward bowling to post 70 in 17 overs for the first wicket.

Their smooth progress was eventually disrupted by New Zealand all-rounder Franklin, who pinned Brown inside his crease to make the breakthrough with the first ball of his second spell from the Pavilion End.

But Gloucestershire CCC were unable to capitalise and Championship debutant Arun Harinath and Batty advanced the score to 96 without further loss by the time bad light stopped play 10 minutes before the scheduled lunch interval. And no resumption was possible as the rain set in to confine the players to the dressing rooms for the rest of the afternoon.

If Gloucestershire CCC are to challenge for promotion, they urgently need to make up for lost time when they resume today. Yet recent form suggests they are engaged in an increasingly uphill struggle.

Having been 22 points clear at the top of the table in June, the county have since lost five out of seven matches, in the process surrendering what amounted to a handy advantage and slipping back into the pack.

Unless they can effect a dramatic change in fortunes over the next three days, the slide looks set to continue.