Staffordshire turned in one of their worst-ever one-day performances as they were crushed by Dorset at West Bromwich Dartmouth.
Few other contenders emerged after a day Staffordshire will want to forget – but really shouldn’t be allowed to – which virtually eliminates them from the 50-over competition.
Staffs had impressed in the Twenty20 Cup, despite narrowly missing out on qualification for finals day, which gave hope that the second instalment of white-ball cricket in the National Counties Cricket Association programme could prove to be a successful one.
The 50-over format has been a strong suit of Staffordshire’s in recent years, but this summer it appears as though that their interest will go no further than next weekend’s final group encounter at Buckinghamshire.