ATHERTON CC's Redmayne Bentley Bolton Association championship aspirations suffered the cruelest of blows on Saturday when their local derby at Gin Pit against Astley and Tyldesley had to be abandoned without a ball being bowled.

Four hours of torrential morning rain which was still falling when both teams arrived for the 1.45pm start, meant that both captains agreed to call things off immediately.

Forecast

But so intense and so widespread was the forecast that they had every reason to believe there would be a complete washout of the Association fixtures, maintaining the league positions status quo.

However, contrary to the forecast, the rain proved to be so localised that Atherton's match was one of only two that had to be called off. As a result all their nearest rivals were able to steal a march on the Higham Park side.

They must now attempt to pick up the pieces this weekend with a double header. They visit Standish tomorrow while entertaining Golborne on Sunday.