YESTERDAY’S Foster’s Worsley Cup final between Rawtenstall and Burnley was cancelled after heavy rain during the morning swept across Lancashire.

The Worswick Memorial Ground took a battering from the weather, the tail end of Hurricane Bertha.

While the entire square and bowler’s run ups were covered all night and were dry, several puddles built up in the outfield leaving the Lancashire League executive with little choice but to abandon for the day, especially with more rain forecast for the afternoon.

Ironically, 20 minutes after the decision, the rain stopped and the sun broke through the thick grey clouds.

But that was only a brief respite as the rain soon returned to the Rossendale Valley.

“It is a shame after all the hard work that people have put in and with the food that has been prepared, but it’s the right decision,” said Rawtenstall’s veteran spinner Keith Roscoe.

The final will now take place next Saturday – and if it is called off then, a reserve date of September 6 has been put in place.

It does, however, mean a clash with the Lancashire Telegraph Trophy final, which takes place at Alexandra Meadows and features the second teams of East Lancashire and Ramsbottom.