Hampshire Cricket History

Philip Hughes plays a ball from Kent’s Tredwell in yesterday’s Pro40 match. Hughes has arrived to play for Hampshire for the rest of this season – one of a number of Australian players in the recent past, beginning with Matthew Hayden and including Shane Warne, Michael Clarke, Stuart Clark, Simon Katich, Marcus North and Shane Watson. Hampshire’s defeat v Kent ends their slim hopes of a semi final place and brought to an end a record-equalling eight consecutive limited overs victories.

Stan Rudder came to Portsmouth from his native Barbados around fifty years ago and has been one of the finest bowlers in local club and league cricket ever since. He played a few games for Hampshire 2nd XI, took over 500 Southern League wickets for Havant, Portsmouth and Waterlooville and was still playing last year, well into his seventies. He is now suffering from a serious illness but before the match v Kent bowled an over to Dominic Cork, with Rod Bransgrove as umpire. Also in shot are Kevan James (BBC South) and Stan’s family

YOUNG CENTURIONS

James Vince scored his maiden first-class (& championship) century last Wednesday (25 August) at Scarborough; 180 v Yorkshire. He was a couple of weeks beyond 19 years and six months (born 14 March).

Liam Dawson remains Hampshire’s youngest first-class centurion. He was 18 years and six (+) months when he made 100* at Trent Bridge in September 2008.

Phil Mead is the second youngest. He was 19 years and two months when he scored 109 – also against Yorkshire at Southampton in 1906.

Then came:

Dick Moore 19 years nine months          1933 v Essex

Robin Smith 19 years nine months          1983 v Lancashire

Gordon Greenidge 19 years 11 months         1971 v Oxford University

David Turner was 20 years and seven months when he scored 181* v Surrey at the Oval. Like Vince, this was his maiden Championship century and remains the highest Championship century for the county by a batsman who had not previously reached 100 in a first-class match. The highest first century for Hampshire is 272 by John Crawley v Kent at Canterbury in 2002, but Crawley had scored centuries previously for other first class sides. CB Llewellyn’s 216 v South Africans at Southampton in 1901 is the highest maiden century for Hampshire in a first-class but non-championship match. Llewellyn was himself South African.

RECORD PARTNERSHIP

Jimmy Adams and James Vince added 278 for Hampshire’s fourth wicket v Yorkshire, beating the previous best of 263 by Roy Marshall and Danny Livingstone v Middlesex at Lord’s in 1970. This was also the highest fourth wicket partnership by any side at Scarborough and Hampshire recorded their highest total on any Yorkshire ground. Four years ago Adams made 168* v Yorkshire at Headingley. Adams was out for 196 this week; only one man, Geoff Cook (Northants), has made 200+ in a county championship match at Scarborough

James Vince and James Adams leave the field in Scarborough at the close of day three. Both had centuries – for Vince, his first in first-class cricket – and on resuming next morning they completed the highest fourth wicket partnership for Hampshire (beating Marshall & Livingstone in 1970) and the highest by any pair at Scarborough. Only Geoff Cook (203) has scored more in a Championship match on the ground than Adams (196)

Dan Christian survives an LBW appeal and Hampshire scramble the winning leg-bye

At around 10.30 this evening Hampshire celebrate winning their first T20 Title – and their 11th major trophy in exactly 50 seasons (here’s to the second XI).

Jimmy Adams hits Durham’s Breese for six in today’s 40 over victory. This shot brought up Hampshire’s century and Adams and Lumb put on 150 for the first wicket – a record for any wicket against Durham in Limited Overs matches.

The six wicket victory was comfortable and improved Hampshire’s position but they are still unlikely to qualify for the competition’s semi finals because of results elsewhere. Meanwhile the excellent form of Lumb added to the (pleasant) challenge for Hampshire’s selectors ahead of next Saturday’s T20 Finals day. It seems that the following 13 players will be in contention: Adams, Lumb, Razzaq, Vince, McKenzie, Carberry, Ervine, Bates, Cork, Wood, Christian, Briggs, Jones

The answer is probably not. The top team from each group plus the best of the three second placed sides will contest the Semi- Finals on Saturday 11 September.

Hampshire are fourth in their group and have five matches remaining including today v Durham. Notts who are second play Scotland today and will probably win, while Notts play Warwicks (top) on Thursday which guarantees points for one (or less probably both) of those sides. If Hampshire finish second, they must make up a deficit of five points on the side currently best-placed in second (Surrey, Group A). Surrey are at home to Sussex today (Guildford)

At just after 5pm Michael Carberry was dismissed with he and his partner Michael Lumb just seven runs short of Hampshire’s record 2nd wicket partnership, set 90 years ago by the amateur EIM Barrett and George Brown. Today’s stand is  the second highest for the second wicket in Championship cricket for the county,  the first stand for any wicket beyond 300 by Hampshire at Basingstoke and the first stand beyond 200 for any Hampshire wicket v Durham. (Hampshire proceeded to lose three wickets for three runs!)

I posted the following last week. Today, Michael Carberry has improved the figure below with another century v Durham. His figure is now 42.11%. THEN he scored another century in the second innings so the figure has risen again to 43.59%

One of the criteria often used to judge the quality of an individual batsman is the number of times that he moves from 50 to 100+. For example, on 63% of the occasions when Don Bradman reached fifty, he went on to complete a century (and often more). The great England batsman Peter May did so in 40% of his first-class innings, while in Test Matches Robin Smith reached 100 in almost 25% of the 37 times when he had reached 50.

For Hampshire in first-class cricket, Robin Smith had a conversion rate of 37.12%, just slightly below the 37.4% rate of the great Phil Mead.

But at this precise moment, following the home match v Kent in July 2010, Michael Carberry’s record for the county is 40.54% – better than any REGULAR batsmen in the county’s history. (NB: KP in seven matches has three centuries and one fifty – so 75%, while CB Fry played only 44 matches in nine seasons but his rate is 48.28%.)

One other current player has a rate better than 30% (Nick Pothas) – of past players only nine others exceed 30% (including Mead and Smith). There are some surprising inclusions and omissions: Greenidge, AJL Hill, T Middleton, RH Moore, MCJ Nicholas, CL Smith, VP Terry

The figures also tend to reveal things about certain periods in English county cricket. For example the eleven players to exceed 30% for Hampshire do not include any batsmen who batted on uncovered wickets in the bowler-dominated 1950s and 1960s – not one, not RE Marshall (27.15), not even Richards (29.46).

In alphabetical order others above 25% are MJ Brown, G Brown, TE Jesty, CB Llewellyn, D Mascarenhas, NH Rogers, J Stephenson,, C Walker