THE only item of any consequence in this rain-ruined game was the fact that by the end both sides had changed their captains.

When it was due to start last Thursday, James Whitaker and Graeme Hick were at the helm. Tom Moody then arrived from Sharjah to take over for Worcestershire and Chris Lewis succeeded the injured Whitaker when the match finally got under way.

With three days' play washed out, this became a one-innings game and Worcestershire perhaps took the idea a little too literally they batted all day.

Worcestershire were 78 for four at one stage but once the pitch had eased, a stonewalling innings by Philip Weston dug them out of trouble.

Lewis and David Millns both claimed two wickets in their opening spells before Weston - whose half-century took nearly four hours - and David Leatherdale came together in a partnership of 167 for the fifth wicket.

Leatherdale, caught at slip one short of his century, was one of three late victims for Matthew Brimson.