Torrential rain claims second week of cricket

Portsmouth made a long wasted journey across the Solent to Ventnor in Southern League division one.

Only five overs were possible before a deluge waterlogged the ground.

Put into bat, the visitors had reached 12 without loss before the premature halt.

Portsmouth captain Rich Locke admitted it was a frustrating day all round.

‘It was all a bit of a waste of a day,’ he said.

‘With the amount of rain that fell on Friday, we agreed to have a pitch inspection.

‘We spoke to the umpires at 8am on Saturday morning and they said it was playable at that time.

‘However, we knew the forecast was for a solid 12 hours of rain starting in the afternoon.

‘Once the wicket was declared playable, however, we had to travel.

‘As soon as we got on the ferry at 10.15am, we headed straight towards big grey clouds coming in.

‘It was also an expensive day – having to get the team across to the Isle of Wight and back on the ferry.

‘Maybe the league need to look at trips across to the Isle of Wight teams and relax their stringent rules a little.’

In division three, Gosport Borough had slumped to 42 for four against Purbrook when rain arrived at Privett Park.

Only 12.4 overs were possible before the players were forced off by the rain.

Borough vice-captain Lee Harrop wasn’t too unhappy.

‘It was very wet but we managed to get the game started,’ he said.

‘Unfortunately, we were not really up for it and that showed.

‘It is hard to maintain the motivation when you know the rain is coming.

‘To their credit, Purbrook bowled very well – putting the ball in the right areas and letting it to do the work.

‘We failed to apply ourselves, though, and lost four quick wickets.

‘A couple were bowled by good balls and a couple got thick edges to get caught behind.

‘In an extreme case, if the rain had stayed off for another hour we could have ended up being bowled out quite cheaply and losing the game.

‘In situations like that, a little bit of application doesn’t go amiss.’

No play was possible in the Hampshire League.