Northants T20 Finals Day is abandoned as the sun shone

A big day for the top four teams in the Northants Premier Division turned into a disappointing damp squib.

The Northants T20 Cup Finals Day at the Northampton County Ground was abandoned after half of the first semi-final had been played between Peterborough Town and Rushton.

The fact that a three-match bowl-out was ordered when the sun was shining brightly caused much bemusement which soon turned to frustration and anger.

“It’s like Northants didn’t want the clubs there in the first place,” a Town spokesman moaned.

To add to the farce no trophy was awarded as competition organisers decided to try and re-stage the event later in the summer.

The bowl-out was employed to determine who would represent Northants in the national rounds with Finedon beating Town 5-3 to take that slot. Town had beaten Rushton by the same score in the semi-final bowl-out.

Northants had provided a substandard, green pitch to begin with. Rushton scored 75-5 in a 10-over semi-final which Town would have been hard pressed to pass having lost Alex Mitchell in the only over of their reply.

Town were probably happier than neighbours Oundle when Saturday’s Premier Division clash at Milton was abandoned at half-time. Town had been dismissed for 151 on a sluggish pitch with Asim Butt (51) top scoring.