WORCESTERSHIRE and Warwickshire suffered in different ways with the abandonment of their County Championship Division Two clash at New Road on Saturday.

Worcestershire, 70 ahead at the overnight score of 347 for seven, needed only three more runs for a fourth batting bonus point and Warwickshire missed an opportunity to avoid the deduction of 0.25 of a point.

They were one over short of the required rate for the match. For the home side, it was another sorry chapter in a bad-weather saga in their home programme.

They have lost six full days out of 12 and the playing time amounts to barely a third of the minimum 1,224 overs for three matches.

With the season eight weeks old, captain Graeme Hick is among several front-line batsmen who have had only two innings at county headquarters.

Hick made the most of time in the middle against Warwickshire by scoring 124, but the weather meant that his 113th first-class century would not be a springboard to victory. Only 24.1 overs were bowled on the final two days.