WORCESTERSHIRE'S New Road home has held up pretty well after the recent floods - but chief executive Mark Newton is still praying for more rain.

With the water now cleared from the County's pitch, the clean-up operation to get the ground ready for the new season is under way.

But with silt and mud covering the newly-laid grass, more water is needed to wash it away.

"Ironically we could do with a sharp shower to clean all the silt away," Newton said.

"The main thing is that the grass held up well and the groundstaff have already cleared the silt away from the square."

New Road was under water for almost a fortnight with it reaching six feet in some areas of the ground and breaching the buildings.

The 2007 NatWest Pro40 champions now have to bring in dehumidifiers to dry the buildings out but Newton believes there was little damage caused by the floods.

There were fears that Worcestershire would have been facing a race against time to get the ground ready for April 1 when they host Warwickshire in a pre-season friendly. But, with the grass holding up well and minimal damage caused, the County are confident cricket will get under way at New Road in the spring.

With no cricket being played at the County's home since mid-June last year, that would be a welcome relief.