CHAMPAGNE flowed on an otherwise wet and dismal day as Evesham secured the points they needed to be crowned Birming-ham Premier League third division champions.

The hosts claimed a couple of priceless batting points before the elements had the final say and the seven points pocketed left only rivals Aston Manor, who could only collect five for an abandonment after having three deducted for failing to supply a scorer in three matches, 29 points adrift ahead of Saturday's final fixture.

Skipper Barry Clements led the way after Evesham were invited to bat by Whitchurch.

With Neal Radford out of the match because of injury, Clements opened the batting with Ian Suckling and the pair put together a half-century opening stand in far from easy conditions.

Both fell to the persevering Khan, followed by a disappointing dismissal for Mark Penter. And, when Stuart Berry fell lbw, the heavens opened again, and play was suspended with the scoreboard reading 103-4 off 23 overs.

With both teams keen to play, the umpire allowed a resumption after a delay of two and a half hours when Will Bailey settled the home spectators' nerves with some firm driving.

Tom Paul added a valuable contribution to ensure a second batting point before more rain caused the abandonment.

Club secretary Bob Shaw said: "This is a well deserved success for coach Simon Price, skipper Barry Clements and the whole Evesham team.

"Evesham have been at the top of the table since virtually the start of the season and have seen off all the competition".

The club's second string can also earn promotion of they can produce a good result at home to Worcester on Saturday after they too were thwarted by the weather last weekend.

Pershore, meanwhile, face a battle to avoid relegation when Aston Manor visit The Bottoms on Sat-urday.

Only seven overs were possible against Worcester last Saturday when the hosts rattled up 42 runs but lost the wickets of Phil Oxley and Sam Howell.

Worcester are another side facing the prospect of County League cricket in 2006.

Lichfield and Penkridge are already doomed leaving the remaining couple of spots between Worcester, Pershore, Moseley Ashfield, Redditch and Whit-church.

Pershore have the toughest assi-gnment with a home clash with Aston Manor who need a win to secure runners-up spot behind Evesham and promotion to Div-ision Two.

Division Three

P W D L A Bt Bl Pts

Evesham 21 11 3 5 2 25 20 331

Aston Manor* 21 11 4 3 3 22 16 302

St Georges 21 8 5 5 3 27 27 287

Beacon 21 7 5 5 4 23 37 262

Coleshill 21 6 5 9 1 32 42 247

Worcester 21 8 6 6 1 21 28 238

Whitchurch 21 7 3 8 3 25 28 224

Pershore 21 7 5 6 3 18 29 222

Redditch 21 6 4 10 1 25 34 220

Moseley Ash 21 7 3 9 2 20 21 213

Penkridge 21 5 2 11 3 24 33 192

Lichfield 21 3 7 9 2 30 32 166

*Points deducted.