TO be a cricketer during a typical English summer, you need the patience of a saint.

While rain has forever had batsmen and bowlers running for cover, there are times when its intervention seems wholly unjust.

Take Bank Holiday Monday for example. Every single game in the Worcestershire League was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to the miserable weather circling the county.

In doing so, it wrecked what could have been one of the most influential round of fixtures of the season.

Key promotion and relegation issues were all at stake, yet it all turned into a damp squib.

Division One leaders Worcester were due to host Pershore in the eagerly-awaited battle of the top two.

But, instead of the two title-challengers going toe-to-toe, play was called off at 11.30am and players left to amuse themselves otherwise.

As a result, Worcester will almost certainly win the title and promotion back to the Birmingham League for the first time in a decade.

Although Worcester’s 57-point gap gave them a major edge going into the match, Pershore could have eaten into it considerably and set up an interesting finale to the campaign.

Similarly, teams that desperately need the points, such as basement boys Evesham, were denied the chance to compete for them.

Worcester may well wrap up the title their season’s play has deserved, but I am sure they would have rather done it on the pitch rather than via elements beyond their control.