With four of the six scheduled Premier Division One matches abandoned without a ball being bowled, victories for Knowle & Dorridge and Halesowen lift them to the top of the table, alongside Wolverhampton, who were the only team to secure a victory, last weekend, as the torrential rain that has fallen over the last month continued to have an adverse effect on the start of the season. Wolverhampton, who benefitted from the hard work of the Moseley ground staff and won the only game that was played last week, were not so lucky this time round as their match with Shrewsbury was one of the four abandoned without any play. The same fate befell the clash between Barnt Green and Moseley, the local affair between Berkswell and Kenilworth Wardens and the dress rehearsal for tomorrow’s Round Two Williamson Trophy tie between Smethwick and Barnards Green.

At Station Road, Knowle & Dorridge won the toss and invited Ombersley to bat with Taylor Cornall (19) hitting Chris Cheslin (2 for 33) for 16 from the second over of the day. From that point onwards, the bowlers from both sides were on top with K & D’s new signing from Leamington Oliver Currill taking 3 for 16 and another recent acquisition, the former England all-rounder Samit Patel, taking 2 for 39 from 10 overs. The best K & D of the bowler, however, was Vidhan Iyer who took 3 for 11 from seven overs in the middle of the innings. Skipper Liam Gwynne top scored for Ombersley with 25 and Josh Holling hit 24 as the Worcestershire outfit were dismissed for 112 in the 34th over. In reply, after the loss of three quick wickets, including the debutant Patel, Ethan Brookes (30) steadied the ship before skipper for the day Alex Phillips steered K & D home to a six wicket win with two wickets each for Gareth Andrew and George Panayi.

Halesowen made light work of Kidderminster at Chester Road after dismissing the home side for 91 in the 37th over. Kidderminster’s top scorer with 14 was Charlie Stainforth as new signing Masihullah Qazkhill took 3 for 17, Ed Bragg snapped up 2 for 5 and James Rudge finished with 2 for 16 for the visitors. In reply, Halesowen reached their target for the loss of four wickets with a six finishing the match off when the scores were level.