TODAY’S Worcestershire and Australia A match was abandoned without a ball bowled at Kidderminster's Chester Road.

Heavy overnight rain was followed by further downpours in the morning to rule out any hopes of play in the 50-over fixture.

Umpires Peter Hartley and Ian Blackwell were left with no choice but to call the game off.

Meanwhile, the England and Wales Cricket Board has agreed for Warwickshire and Essex to swap their home and away fixtures in the County Championship following the recent flooding of Blackfinch New Road.

With Edgbaston hosting matches in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, Warwickshire had agreed terms with Worcestershire to use Blackfinch New Road as the home venue for the game with Essex starting on Saturday, July 13.

However, this match will now be played at The Cloudfm County Ground with the return match to start at Edgbaston on Tuesday, September 10.

Warwickshire chief executive Neil Snowball said: “We were looking forward to holding our home match against Essex at Blackfinch New Road in July and Matt Rawnsley and his team have been extremely accommodating.

"However, as soon as we saw the images of the recent flooding we knew this would be a challenge and started to look at alternative options.

"I have been in regular contact with Matt over the last 10 days, offering our support but also talking through the likelihood of continuing with the fixture in Worcester and ultimately this proved impossible despite the best efforts of everyone concerned.”