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The weather spoiled Nottinghamshire’s hopes of pushing for a dramatic victory on the last day of the Vitality County Championship match at Visit Worcestershire New Road, as the two teams drew.
Even though two of the first three days were washed out, Nottinghamshire was in a solid position going into Monday, leading by 154 runs. However, the players’ expectations of playing on the pitch were shattered by intense overnight rain and a constant barrage of early showers.
Nigel Llong and Suri Shanmugam, the umpires, conducted a number of inspections. After dominating Worcestershire on Saturday—the only day of play—the visitors have every right to feel unhappy.
Although Worcestershire managed to avoid any unpleasant situations on the last day, this first section of the County Championship came to a depressing close. After being forced to move their first two home games to Kidderminster due to eight floods over the winter, the last round of the first block of red ball matches was meant to be a pleasant homecoming to New Road.
Last month, chief executive Ashley Giles floated the idea of moving the club to a new permanent home because the ground is built on a floodplain which relieves the River Severn, making it extremely susceptible to bad weather. “It’s costing us a lot of money,” Giles told BBC Hereford and Worcester. “We’re going to lose virtually two months of a six-month season. The ground is here to stage cricket, to be a venue for entertainment and hospitality. But conditions are seemingly getting worse.”
On Friday, New Road will play home to Lancashire Lightning in a Vitality Blast contest. Even though the ground crew has been working nonstop for the past four days, more bad weather could have an impact on the fixture’s preparations. Throughout a season, the Blast contributes significantly to the club’s matchday earnings despite not being a Test site. On June 30, a women’s ODI between England and New Zealand will also take place at the same location.
“A disappointing day in the field, and, ultimately, three disappointing days being back at New Road and not being able to get on the park as well,” said Worcestershire head coach Alan Richardson. “It’s lovely to be back but four days that we probably don’t want to remember for too long.”