Cricket: Kent Dismay at Decision to Play on Soaked Ground

County Championship: No play on Sunday prompted harsh criticism of Worcestershire's decision to host Kent so soon after severe flooding.
There was high farce at New Road, Worcester, yesterday where no play was possible despite sunny conditions. Worcestershire duly paid for an incomprehensible decision to attempt to stage a championship fixture just 12 days after their ground was flooded when the banks of the rivers Severn and Teme burst. An alternative venue was available at Kidderminster but Worcestershire's chief executive, Mark Newton, decided to stay at Worcester, heavily influenced by a Pro40 match against Hampshire there on Friday, to be televised live on Sky. "If we had put the infrastructure in place at Kidderminster," said Newton, "it would have meant all our resources were there and not here cleaning up. The game on Sky is hugely important to us financially. We've already lost a huge sum of money - up to £170,000 at present and if we lose the day-night game, you are talking about another £80,000 to £100,000. Hospitality wise, it is one of the biggest days of the year." Kent, not unnaturally, were left deeply frustrated. "I feel it only right to express our concern and disappointment," said their chief executive, Paul Millman. "With a ground available elsewhere in the county, our expectations for a four-day game of cricket on a decent wicket won't be fulfilled here at New Road. We were led to believe the ground would be fit for play and clearly it isn't. The key is there were alternative venues in the county and we also offered our own facilities at Beckenham as an alternative even though we couldn't move it to Canterbury because of the Tour de France." Darren Maddy's second championship century of the season left Warwickshire in a strong position yesterday, more so perhaps than the scoreline of 267 for three against Hampshire at the Rose Bowl suggests. On a wicket that offered both seamers and spinners encouragement, Hampshire, Shane Warne included, bowled poorly, and may struggle to recover. They were not helped by Warne either. Unorthodox field settings are a feature of his captaincy, but this was one of those days when they did not come off. Maddy had not scored when he edged James Bruce between second slip and wide-ish fourth slip to the boundary and he continued to live dangerously in taking full advantage of the loose stuff in his unbeaten 121.