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Rain forces Australia A match to be abandoned

Poor conditions in Worcester sees the clash between Australia A and Worcestershire called off

Persistent overnight rain has forced Australia A's 50-over clash with Worcestershire to be abandoned without a ball bowled. 

The standing umpires inspected the outfield at Kidderminster in the hour before play and deemed the outfield to be unsafe for play. In addition to the wet outfield, rain is forecast well into the afternoon. 

"It's always disappointing to have a game rained out," allrounder Mitch Marsh told cricket.com.au.

"The boys were up and about for today's game but it's something we can't control unfortunately."

The fixture – Australia A's third one-day match of their six-week tour – was moved to Kidderminster from Worcestershire's home ground at New Road due to mass flooding that completely submerged the entire playing surface.

Image Id: 71763436A00D4A0C956B9F2A1D7727C4 Image Caption: The New Road Ground last week // Supplied

Worcestershire's Australian-born overseas player Callum Ferguson was left stunned by the sights at New Road.

"I've never seen anything like it," Ferguson told cricket.com.au on Monday. 

"There's still two park benches out in the middle of the ground. It's unbelievable."



The abandoned game means Australia A keeps their perfect tour record intact following emphatic wins over Northamptonshire (six wickets) and Derbyshire (seven wickets).

The squad now travels 70 minutes south to Bristol for the final two one-day matches against Gloucestershire on June 30 and July 2 after which the campaign switches formats to four-day cricket.

Australia A plays Sussex in Arundle from July 7 and Kent in Canterbury from July 14 in first-class competition, before taking on an Australian side in Southampton, starting July 23. 

Australia A tour of the UK

Get live scores and all the latest news from Australia A's tour of the UK on cricket.com.au and the CA Live app

Australia A one-day squad: Travis Head (c), Matthew Wade, Will Pucovski, Peter Handscomb, Mitch Marsh (vc), D'Arcy Short, Kurtis Patterson, Ashton Agar, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Josh Hazlewood (vc), Sean Abbott, Andrew Tye

Australia A four-day squad: Tim Paine (c), Marcus Harris, Kurtis Patterson, Will Pucovski, Travis Head (vc), Peter Handscomb, Matthew Wade, Mitch Marsh, Michael Neser, Jon Holland, James Pattinson, Jackson Bird, Josh Hazlewood (vc), Chris Tremain

One-day fixtures:

June 20: Australia A beat Northamptonshire by six wickets

June 23: Australia A beat Derbyshire by seven wickets

June 25: Australia A v Worcestershire, match abandoned

June 30: Australia A v Gloucestershire, Bristol

July 2: Australia A v Gloucestershire, Bristol

Four-day fixtures:

July 7-10: Australia A v Sussex, Arundel

July 13-16: Australia A v England Lions, Canterbury

July 23-26: Australia v Australia A, Hampshire