Rice made his debut for Cambridgeshire in the 1982 Minor Counties Championship against Lincolnshire. Rice played Minor counties cricket for Cambridgeshire from 1982 to 1988, including nine Minor Counties Championship matches and six MCCA Knockout Trophy matches. In 1982, he made his List A debut against Warwickshire in the NatWest Trophy. He played two further List A matches for Cambridgeshire, against Middlesex in 1983 and Warwickshire in 1988. In his three List A matches, he took 2 wickets at a bowling average of 83.00, with best figures of 1/31.
