Staff at Worcestershire are battling to save one of the oldest and most beautiful cricket grounds in the country.
New Road has hosted cricket since 1899 when the club relocated from Boughton Park.
The ground was built on three sheep fields on the banks of the river Severn rented from the Dean of the Cathedral with Yorkshire the first visitors.
But it is a victim of its magnificent setting as it has been flooded as a result of the torrential rain that has battered the West Country in the last few weeks and caused the river to burst its banks.
It is not the first time the club has had to battle the elements as the ground was underwater with just six weeks to the start of their campaign in 2007.
And now staff at the club face an anxious wait for the flood waters to recede so they can begin preparations for the start of the season with Somerset due to play a pre-season friendly in mid-March.