Hampshire Cricket History

I’ve had the pleasure of writing a monograph about Mike Barnard – Portsmouth-born Hampshire cricketer and Pompey footballer. We are both former Portsmouth Grammar School boys and the monograph was launched today (30 June) with a match between PGS and MCC at Hilsea.

The picture above shows Mike seated (centre) with former colleagues Leo Harrison (left) and Alan Rayment. Standing are Richard McIlwaine, another PGS boy who played for Hampshire in 1969 and 1970 and John Young with whom Mike worked for some years as a commentator on Hospital Radio at Northlands Road and the Rose Bowl.

The school also opened their new scoreboard in a ceremony performed by John Barclay and Mike.

Dave Allen

Snell of Gloucestershire plays across a ball from Simon Jones, misses and is about to lose his wicket.

Hampshire’s T20 campaign has been at best inconsistent – win one, lose one. With seven matches to go, they probably need to win at least five to qualify for the quarter finals. Nonetheless, a number of their players have recorded T20 best performances this season (brackets indicate a ‘better best’ for another side)

Batting Bests: Abdul Razaq 12 (109), Jimmy Adams 101*, Danny Briggs 0*, Dan Christian 4 (54), Sean Ervine 74*, Neil McKenzie 55 (85*), James Vince 77, Chris Wood 18

Bowling Bests: Abdul Razaq 2-16 (4-13), Danny Briggs 3-31, Dan Christian 2-37 (4-23), Sean Ervine 4-12, Simon Jones (1-24), Chris Wood 3-27

In part this fairly long list is explained by the number of T20 debuts for Hampshire:

T20 DEBUTS: Abdul Razzaq, N McKenzie, C Wood, D Briggs v Kent (RB), D Christian v Glamorgan (Cardiff), J Vince v Gloucs (Bristol), S Jones v Surrey (Oval).

Jimmy Adams drives Andre Nel (Surrey) on the way to his first T20 century – and only the second ever for Hampshire. He was, for the second time in three days, Hampshire’s star as they passed 200 and won their second match of the competition.

The non-striker is Kevin Pietersen, wearing his correct shirt (see below)

In addition to his fine performances in limited overs cricket, Jimmy’s first-class career average is currently higher than any other regularly selected Hampshire-born Hampshire batsman. Among those closest to him are Tony Middleton, Jimmy Gray, Trevor Jesty, AJL Hill and Adi Aymes.

Is that number 8 really Liam Dawson? In which case who is the other number 8 with Dawson on his back? KP of course on his first appearance for Hampshire in more than two years. Meanwhile in the Surrey side there is Chris Tremlett in his return to the Rose Bowl with his new county.

Since the match we have learned that Pietersen finds the drive from Chelsea to the Rose Bowl too much to ask once every two years – it is presumed he will sign for one of the two London counties, perhaps following Udal to Middlesex or Tremlett to Surrey.

Jimmy Adams sends the ball to the boundary during his 61 v Somerset

Until Sunday there were some clear patterns in the T20 – for Hampshire and across the country. Hampshire had played three matches with tight (and in one case astonishing) finales but their matches had also been the slowest in terms of overall scoring rate – all three averaging below one run per ball.

In general terms the highest and fastest scoring had been in the North Division – all four innings in excess of 200 and the only aggregate over 400 had all been in that Division. Meanwhile the lower scoring Southern Division was dominated by Sussex – the reigning champions and the only side with a 100% record.

They won again on Sunday reaching a target of 144 but elsewhere the southern teams began scoring more prolifically. As Hampshire, led by Adams, passed 200 for the first time, Kent (217) and Middlesex (201) did the same. And all three of these matches produced aggregates above 390.

Until Sunday only one of the thirty matches had been abandoned with no result but the rain came to northern England and two more matches failed to finish, while Northants beat Yorkshire in a reduced Duckworth Lewis game. Northants’ 88 (v Lancs) remains the lowest score of the season.

Some Hampshire records:

Hampshire’s extraordinary defeat against Somerset set a new record, as Somerset became the first T20 side anywhere in the world ever to defend successfully a total as low as 104. Jimmy Adams innings of 61 constituted 63% of their total which, surprisingly is only the highest percentage for the county since 2008 when Adam Voges scored 66* (64%) in a total of 103-2 v Sussex in a match restricted to 13 overs. However, Jimmy’s innings is the highest proportion of a Hampshire innings that went into the final (20^th) over.

T20 Debuts 2010 for Hampshire: Abdul Razzaq, C Wood, D Briggs v Kent (RB), D Christian v Glamorgan (Cardiff). K Pietersen had previously played one T20 match in 2008

Michael Carberry completed 1000 runs for Hampshire in T20 matches v Somerset

Jimmy Adams’ 101 v Surrey was his highest T20 score. In the same match Sean Ervine recorded his highest T20 score for Hampshire (54*) although two short of his best for any side. Dan Christian’s 2-37 was his best in a (so far) brief career for the county (plus three fine catches) and Chris Wood’s 3-30 was his best in the T20.

(Courtesy Sky Sports); Average first innings scores this year on 12 June was 155, the same as last year. In the first season (2003) it was 156. The highest was 166 in 2006, the lowest 137 in 2007. The following two days will have raised this year’s average

I cannot explain this evening’s defeat against Somerset but I can offer you a pretty picture of the new West Stand – about half-an-hour before everything fell apart

And I can find a similar match, 33 years ago. In May 1977 Hampshire met Nottinghamshire in a 40 over Sunday League match at Bournemouth and dismissed them for 119 in 31.4 overs (Andy Murtagh 4-12). Gordon Greenidge scored 44 as Hampshire reached 110-4 . They then lost six wickets for seven runs and lost by two runs.

But I still can’t explain tonight!

The latest edition of the Cricket Statistician carries an interesting feature on occasions when two batsmen have scored centuries in both innings of a first class match for opposing teams.

The first instance was in May 1927 in the match between Surrey and Hampshire at the Oval. the two Jacks were the men – Hobbs for Surrey (112 & 104) and Newman for hampshire (102 & 102*). In 1997 at Southampton, Matthew Hayden repeated the feat with David Hemp of Warwickshire and Hayden, uniquely, has done it twice as he featured in a similar occasion for Queensland v New South Wales (PC Nobes) four years earlier.

Hampshire featured but suffered on the first occasion when two batsmen scored two centuries for the same side, and they were brothers!. In 1899 Re and WE Foster scored their four centuries for Worcestershire at Worcester.

In the same edition there is a fascinating story and replica scorecard of a match at Lord’s in September 1932 between the Elementary Schools (under 15s) captained by DCS Compton and Mr GF Tuffnell’s XI – a Public Schools side captained by the future Hampshire captain/secretary EDR (Desmond) Eagar. Eagar opened the bowling, took two wickets but could not prevent a Compton century or victory for the Elementary boys.

The publication is produced by the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians (website: http://www.acscricket.com, email: office@acscricket.com)

It was rather appropriate to see Jimmy Adams batting at the Rose Bowl yesterday with the sound of builders working on the main stadium. Exactly ten years to the day, Jimmy faced the first ball at the new Rose Bowl (Nursery Ground) for Hampshire 2nd XI as the builders worked on the first phase of the new ground. In 2000 that first ball was bowled by Billy Taylor, then playing for Sussex 2nd XI.

17 days before the match between England and Australia and Briggs bowls with the new stand close to completion – all the white seats appear to be in place

The British broadsheets all carried stories today that Danish Kaneria was playing for Essex v Hampshire despite the threat of ECB suspension “pending the conclusion of police enquiries into alleged ‘spot fixing’ in a recent match” (Guardian). He is shown above taking the field against Hampshire led by his team-mates and the two umpires Willey and (right) Trevor Jesty of Hampshire