Rain ruins last day as Cheshire draw at Berkshire

Cheshire 381 (87 overs) & 261-8 (60.5 overs), Berkshire 174 (47.3 overs) & 75-3 (19 overs). Match drawn. Cheshire 12 points, Berkshire 8 points.

Scorecard

Western Division 1 Table

Not for the first time this season the weather thwarted Cheshire as light rain washed out the final day of their Western Divison 1 championship match with Berkshire at Finchampstead.

Well placed - with Cheshire looking for seven wickets and the champions needing an unlikely 393 - light rain fell for much of the day and although there were signs of it clearing, a prolonged mop up operation would've been required, and when that looked possible, the weather turned again. The match was called off in mid afternoon.

Denied the maximum 24 points, Cheshire had to settle for 12 and now sit third in the table. They do however have a game in hand over Oxfordshire and Berkshire above them and face Oxfordshire in the last game of the season at Banbury a week on Sunday.

Before that, it's the little matter of a home game with Devon at Chester Boughton Hall this weekend (Sunday - Tuesday 13-15 August).

Cheshire's first game, with Herefordshire at Alderley Edge, was abandoned without a ball bowled.

Pete Babbage, Cheshire's Head of Cricket said, "It was so disappointing that we couldn't get the final day in. Everything was set and we'd bossed the first two days.

"There were some outstanding individual performances throughout the match, confidence is sky high and we just have to re-group and go again.

"The weather hasn't given us the opportunity to really show how good we are this season, severely affecting the T20 and KO Trophy games and now ruining our Championship fixtures.