Can’t play?

Rutherford scored 535 runs at 41 in last season’s Plunket Shield, then averaged 44 in four County Championship matches for Worcestershire. This season Rutherford hasn’t got into gear with

Hayden Paddon’s World Rally Championship (WRC) return has been canned with the New South Wales bushfires forcing the final round in Coffs Harbour to be cancelled.

Speculation has been swirling for the last 48 hours over whether Rally Australia would go ahead as a smoke haze hung over Coffs Harbour.

Bushfires that are ravaging the state of New South Wales have been threatening the outskirts of the city.

Paddon, who finished second at Rally Australia last year, would have been having his first WRC drive of the year. After racing on a part-time schedule last year with Hyundai, Paddon linked with M-sport Ford this year for a one-off drive at Rally Finland but a high-speed crash in testing ended his rally before it could even begin.

Paddon told Stuff last week, he wanted to use the Rally Australia opportunity to press his claims for a 2020 WRC championship seat with M-sport.

‘‘First and foremost, our best wishes are with everyone affected by and fighting these wild bush fires in NSW. I agree with the decision that the rally has now been cancelled,’’ Paddon wrote on Twitter.

‘‘Incredibly sorry for all our supporters and fans that, despite our best efforts that we don’t get to show what I still believe, that we can do a good job at this level. Despite this being out of everyone’s control, it just seems that the WRC gods don’t want it to happen for us.’’