No change as Leamington and Brock are frustrated by rain

Nick Couzens made an excellent 73 in Leamington 2nds' rain-affected clash with Brockhampton 2nds.

In the two hours of play possible, Leamington were asked to bat first and made a good start, reaching 71 for one as Jon Wigley, Luke de Souza and Waqar Ahmed all made starts.

Brock’s change bowlers brought them back into the match, however, as Freddie Cross earned two wickets in a long spell and the occasional off-spin of Worcestershire star Daryl Mitchell accounted for two more.

The forecast rain then set in with Leamington 118 for five and no further play was possible.

The reverse fixture at Leamington saw Brockhampton’s second string snatch a winning draw in a reduced- overs match.

Leamington lost the toss and batted first, making a fine start despite Dave Hawkes padding up to a straight one.

In-form Max Lion was joined by 14-year-old Ibby Afzal and the score rattled along as both found the conditions to their liking.

Lion played on to Toby Abernethy for 29, the first of four victims for the Aussie and the scoring rate slowed as the experienced Glyn Harrhy found some turn on a dry wicket.

Afzal made 33 and Nick Couzens an excellent 73 but a rain delay of almost two hours did not help Spa and the hosts spluttered somewhat, ending their innings on 232 for nine.

Despite the rain, the wicket remained good and Brock’s target for a winning draw was 127 in 20 overs.

Leamington’s bowlers were unusually off colour and the fielding not up to usual standards but the match remained in the balance thanks to two wickets apiece for Joe Midgley and Jason Butler.

However, Brock secured a winning draw, reaching 134 for five.

Leamington 3rds moved back into the Cotswold Hills Premier Division promotion picture with a five-wicket win at home to Ashton-under-Hill.

The visitors chose to bat first and were soon regretting their decision as Dishant Seth and Dan McCarthy ran through the line-up.

Seth took the first two to fall and then McCarthy came to the fore in a nine-over spell that yielded six for 26, including top-scorer Darren Haines who made 14.

Seth turned in excellent figures of three for ten in eight overs as Ashton were skittled for 48.

A rain delay and poor weather forecast looked as though it might frustrate Leamington and when play did resume the batsmen found scoring difficult.

However, the modest total was reached in the tenth over for the loss of five wickets.