Kent See Red As Lost Worcester Match Yields Only Four Points

There was a sense of the inevitable about events both at and pertaining to Woodbridge Road yesterday, where on and off the field Worcestershire took their punishment without complaint, rain stopped play for getting on for four hours and Mark Ramprakash scored a century. Up in Scarborough, however, Kent were furious.

Nobody was surprised by the England and Wales Cricket Board's announcement that Worcestershire's championship match against Kent, which had to be abandoned last month after the home county chose not to relocate it from flood-damaged New Road to an alternative venue, will not now be replayed. Less acceptable, so far as Kent were concerned, was the ECB ruling that they, along with Worcestershire, would be awarded only four points as a result.

The original decision that the game should be rescheduled provoked widespread protest from other counties who had also seen possible results washed out by the weather. An alternative proposal, that Kent should be awarded nine points - their average return from away fixtures this season - on the grounds of fairness, and Worcestershire four, would have required unanimous approval from the nine First Division counties.

Warwickshire, Yorkshire, Durham and Lancashire all objected, so the ECB confirmed it had no alternative but to award both counties the standard four points each. Kent's chairman, Carl Openshaw, expressed "extreme disappointment" at the outcome, accused the four objecting counties of acting for reasons of self-interest and reserved all legal rights pending advice.

Remarkably, Worcestershire are still hoping to play their last two home games of the season, against Hampshire and Northamptonshire in September, at New Road, where they will hope for more response from the wicket than they got here yesterday.

Resuming at 164 for two, Surrey added 183 runs in the 49.2 overs possible, with Ramprakash moving from 32 not out overnight to 142. It was his sixth century of the championship season to date, and his ninth in his last 17 innings against Worcestershire, who must wonder what else can hit them. From the point of view of the Surrey supporters, some of his shots, such as the apparently gentle flick at the off-spin of Gareth Batty which sent the ball soaring over the hospitality tents at wide long-on, were worth the price of admission on their own.