TONY Douglas has every reason to consider himself unfortunate after seeing his career-best wicket haul count for virtually nothing.

The Rushwick Seconds bowler claimed an impressive 8-33 to reduce Birlingham to 61-9 in their Crusader Worcestershire Division Four South match.

But, with just 24 overs on the board, the rain came and wiped the rest of the match out, leaving Rushwick with nine points to Birlingham's five for the abandonment.

Despite the disappointment of seeing a favourable position ruined, Douglas' efforts were not completely in vain as he is our latest cricketer of the week, winning a £30 voucher for the Fearnley Factory Shop.

The medium-pace bowler, winner of the award for the second time in four years, said: "It was very, very unlucky. It's my best ever.

"It was quite damp and it was a good toss to win. The ball was swinging a little bit and it sometimes stopped on the wicket and sometimes went through.

"There were some good catches - one in the slips, three caught at silly mid-off and one caught and bowled.

"I also had the guy who wasn't out dropped in the slips so it could have been nine."

Douglas, who has been with the club for eight years, said: "We went off once for a shower and we came back on five or 10 minutes after that.

"The second time we took an early tea and the heavens just opened up and the water went under the covers and the pitch was flooded. There was nothing we could do about it.

"It's disappointing for the team because we did all the hard work, we fielded well and we didn't get a result.

"You wouldn't expect it at this time of year, it's usually a nice batting track at Birlingham. This time last year it was 30 degrees."

The match was Rushwick's third abandonment of the season and leaves them with just two wins from eight fixtures.

Douglas, 33, said: "I have missed a couple of games this year but have probably taken about 15 or 16 wickets in about four league games. I have had a very good start to the season.

"As a team I think we have been a bit disappointing in terms of batting and not being able to turn good performances into victories.

"We have got to build on the potential result and go on and win a few more games."