BIDDESTONE were involved in just one of two fixtures to be completed in Premier Two Glos/Wilts owing to the wet weekend weather – although they may have wished their trip to Thornbury was washed out altogether as they slipped to a hefty 78-run defeat.

The visitors were always likely to be up against it facing a Thornbury side chasing promotion, although they would have been pleased with their start to the match after opting to bowl first as they had claimed three wickets with only 51 runs on the board.

However, Danny Slade (67) and Nick Willis-Stovold (64) both produced gutsy knocks for the home side to lead them to 249-9 at the end of their 50 overs. Cameron Beath was the pick of the Biddestone bowlers, taking 4-36.

That target of 250 was reduced to 223 off 32 overs after rain brought a temporary halt to proceedings, and opener Dwaine Perry began positively for the visitors once the reply did get under way.

Perry scored a battling 70 but found support hard to come by, with the 22 extras conceded by Thornbury being the second top score as Biddestone were dismissed for 144.

Luke Franklin was their tormentor in chief, returning figures of 4-18.

Corsham’s home match against county rivals Westbury & District, and Burbage & Easton Royal’s trip to Cheltenham both failed to produce a result due to the unwelcome downpour across the region.