Worcester floods once again

	New Road is under water yet again © Getty Images

The storms which have ravaged England in recent days have again caused the rivers surrounding Worcestershire's home at New Road to break their banks and flood the ground. It means that there is almost no chance of the county's remaining two home matches being staged at the venue.

New Road was unusable for the remainder of the summer after severe flooding in June last year, although it was back in service at the start of 2008 thanks to extensive fund raising and tremendous efforts by the groundstaff. However, in spite of an insurance pay-out of £300,000 and an ECB grant of £75,000, the club made a pre-tax loss of £693,211 as it was estimated that the clear-up and other costs totalled close to £1 million.

As a contingency, a deal was signed with Kidderminster CC to use their facilities if there was a recurrence of the 2007 flooding.

The county will make an announcement tomorrow when they are expected to confirm that Kidderminster will host their last two games, both against Middlesex, in the Pro40 League next Sunday and County Championship Division Two on September 17.