REPORT : Rain curtails day three against Worcs
11 July 2017
Barely an hour's cricket was possible on the third day of Gloucestershire's Championship match with Worcestershire at the Cheltenham Festival, with limited progress towards a positive result on the final day.
Overnight pair Cameron Bancroft and Chris Dent added 13 runs before Bancroft was caught at slip by Whiteley off Hastings for 22, and when the players left the field in the 16th over of the day for bad light, Gloucestershire had reached 62-1 in their second innings, an overall lead of 145. No further play was possible before the umpires called off play for the day in mid afternoon.
With a poor forecast for the day, a small crowd had gathered when Joe Leach saw Bancroft drive him to the cover boundary in the first over. Thereafter Leach was miserly, conceding only a single in his next four overs until Tavare mirrored Bancroft's earlier stroke towards the Members stand.
Dent, who was seven not out overnight, played out two maidens from Hastings before he faced Leach for the first time, and his only scoring shot of the day from 42 balls faced was a steer to third man as Gloucestershire opted for caution against some accurate bowling.
Bancroft's dismissal came with the score at 33, as he edged a ball from Hastings towards the slips. Wicketkeeper Ben Cox couldn't take it cleanly, but his deflection took it into the path of Ross Whiteley, whose name will forever appear on the scorecard as the catcher.
It was Cox who held a fine catch to dismiss Tavare in the first innings, but here Tavare gave no such opportunity even though Hastings at one stage was bowling with five slips. As a result, Tavare collected four boundaries in the resultant gaps in the covers until bad light forced the players off shortly after midday.
Umpires Ian Blackwell and Russell Evans decided the players should take an early lunch but when play was due to resume the rain had started and the covers had to be replaced. A short window when the rain did stop was insufficient to allow the ground staff enough time to make a difference to playing conditions and it was raining again when play was abandoned at 3.20pm.
Due to the number of overs bowled, spectators with tickets for Tuesday's play can claim a 50% refund on the cost of their ticket (less an administration fee). To do this, please post your details, along with your ticket to the club office at the Brightside Ground, Nevil Road, Bristol, BS& 9EJ.
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