FIELDING nine of the 12 players whose last npower Village Cup action at Lord's, Exhall and Wixford were thwarted by the rain when they entertained Fillongley last Sunday.

This season's opening Leicestershire and Warw-ickshire group clash followed a bye and a walkover but a heavy downpour after 20 overs leaves the sides to lock horns again this weekend at Fillongley.

The abandonment gives Simon Hollands an extra week to overcome an ankle injury that left him unable to bowl and set to bat down the order on an afternoon when he saw two newcomers to the village game start with excellent bowling spells.

Stephen Kerby had little in the way of good fortune in a six-over spell that finally brought a wicket when Jon Simpson plucked an on drive out of the air to leave the visitors struggling on 37-3 in the tenth over.

Steve Keen had struck twice in his fourth over after the Fillongley openers had added 24 and, as at Lord's, the opening seamer bowled his allotted overs unchanged that also saw him collect a third scalp courtesy of a typically smart piece of stumping from Graeme Wicks.

Kerby's replacement Ric-hard Nicholls produced a tidy spell, while Simpson snapped up a wicket with only his second delivery to leave Fillongley 75-5 when the match was called off midway through the allotted 40 overs.

Kerby and Nichols will be hoping Exhall can finish off the task this weekend as they look for a repeat of last season's heroics that ended in defeat at the hands of Sully Centurions.