ROSS Cricket Club 1st XI opened their Worcester County League Division 4 South season with a home match against Bromsgrove Cricket Club 3rd XI. The match balls were kindly sponsored by Pricepoint Gardening. The damp, overcast conditions, along with the terrible weather forecast, meant that the captain winning the toss and choosing to bowl first was likely to gain an early advantage.

This proved to be the case as Bromsgrove claimed some early Ross wickets after a rain delay of 95 minutes, which came after only 4 overs of the Ross innings had been bowled.

Jack Evans, Tom Parsons and James Tiffen all went cheaply as the Ross batsmen struggled to come to terms with the conditions. Andrew Bevan (39) and Stuart Mair steadied the ship somewhat and Bevan in particular was looking confident and punishing the bad ball with ease.

However, both batsmen departed in quick succession. This brought together Bruno Warwick (31) and Charles Hiram (24) who batted responsibly as Ross looked to occupy the crease for the remainder of their scheduled 50 overs. Once again, two wickets were lost in quick succession leaving Harry King and Gabriel Warwick at the crease.

The complicated rules for rain affected matches, which certainly favour the side batting second, were the subject of much discussion as Ross looked to set their opponents a decent target. However, this proved academic as the rain started to fall again and no further play was possible. In reaching 132 for 7 off 42 overs Ross picked up six points with Bromsgrove taking eight points.