Hampshire Cricket History

We’ve discussed whether Carberry is the obvious candidate to replace Compton for the Ashes and it’s been revived with an article in the Portsmouth News today where in an interview, Shaun Udal  says he is in “fantastic form” adding “if they are going to pick a guy in form, then Carberry is the man”.

Now as I understand it, the whole rationale for introducing two divisions, covered wickets and four-days in the Championship was as nearly as possible to replicate Test Match conditions on which basis, anyone’s case to be selected for a Test (other than those with Central Contracts) is performances in the Championship.

We need to add a good innings for the England Lions recently but here are some facts:

In 2013 Michael Carberry has scored 122 Championship runs in 6 innings, average = 20.33

Excluding University matches, in 25 First-Class innings this year and last year (24 in the Championship one for the Lions), he has scored five fifties with a best of 84* v Leicestershire in April 2012. 18 times in those 25 innings he has been out for less than 30. His last century was v Warwickshire at the end of 2011.

I like Michael Carberry as a man and he’s a terrific limited-overs batsman who, on the basis of today at Lord’s could well play for England in that form, but increasingly I wonder whether people pay attention to what’s going on – or whether the Championship doesn’t really count for much.

We’re about one third through the Championship season and Hampshire are fifth behind, Northants, Lancashire, Essex and Worcs. They made a good start with the bat:

v Leics they were 308-5 and 454-7 dec

v Worcs they were 319-5 and 493 all out (96 for 8th by Wood & Adams)

but since then, the batsmen have struggled rather more

v Essex 129-5 became 197 all out and in 2nd innings 144-5 was 199 all out

v Gloucs 58-5 improved to 274 thanks to 128 for 9th wicket by Briggs and Adams

v Lancs 138-5 became 258 all out (57 for 9th wicket by Bailey & Briggs)

in the current match v Northants their 5th wicket went at 143.

Northants have three bowlers in the top six of Div Two wicket-takers, so it’s no surprise that they are top although Chapple is the leading Lancastrian with 16 wickets, at number 12. For Hampshire, Tomlinson is eighth with 20 at 19.45. Balcombe is at no. 24 (12 wickets) and Briggs at 26 (11).

Not only does it continue to be wet in many of the matches but we learn that it’s been the coldest spring since 1962 – when Hampshire’s Champions opened the season by representing the Duke of Norfolk in the opening match of the Pakistani’s second tour of England at Arundel Castle.

The hours lost at Northants today took Hampshire past 30 hours so far.

They’re off for a mixture of bad light and bad tempers at Northampton with Dawson leading the fight for Hampshire. Meanwhile I’ve been sorting out some bits from the Archives, including a range of items about Hampshire and the Australians. This first one is from a photocopy of the scorebook at the Oval (5th) Test in 1921 when Phil Mead scored 182* – the highest home Test score v Australia until Hutton’s record 17 years later. George Brown and Hon Lionel Tennyson (captain) also played in this match. There is a photo of the innings on the Atrium walkway.

You can see a larger version by clicking on it

PS: They came back on long enough for Wheater to get out. He scored 40 which is OK but I suspect if Bates had played and scored 40 we’d have thought he’d done quite nicely. Dawson is still there but they’re off again. The forecast is OK for the last two days but neither of these sides will give much to the other – it looks like the draw already, in which case Hampshire need batting points. While there hasn’t been as much rain as last year it’s spread out, so that four of the first six matches have lost enough time to prevent a result. The other two were in satisfactory weather and it was win one, lose one. 

Hampshire’s first wicket fell at 3 today with Adams’ third duck of the season. Only once in six first Championship innings this season have Hampshire enjoyed an opening partnership beyond 14 and that was against Worcs when Carberry and Adams put on 113 and they won their only match. Otherwise first innings starts have been: 0, 5, 14, 0 and 3. Second innings have been rare but a bit better, with 14 v Essex and 55 v Gloucs.

The bad rain at Northampton also hit Derby last night which was luckier for Hampshire as the 40 over match between Derbys and Surrey was abandoned after the latter – second behind Hampshire – went off like an express train. So just one point for them and Hampshire now very definitely in pole position.

I don’t know whether Steve G has gone to Northampton but if so, I hope he has his coat because it’s raining again. If they lose two hours today which seems highly probable, that will make the equivalent of one whole match lost although they are not yet up to 30% lost as they were overall last year.

I’ve been working at home where I have this morning sent the first final draft of the 150th Book to the printers & designers. It is derived from the entries on this Blog since January – but edited, corrected and added to.

PS: Mid-afternoon and again, off for the day, which – given that Northants are top – makes a result unlikely, certainly in terms of declarations, making a game of it and all those cute notions from the past. One side will have to bowl very well for there to be a result, I imagine.

And that’s 28 hours lost so far which is approaching a match and a day (30 hours).

I took this photograph when Glenn Querl made his first-class debut for Hampshire v Loughborough University. I suspected nothing at the time, I was too busy concentrating on the picture – but later I heard of doubts about his action. When I saw it, I decided not to publish it but this afternoon ECB have announced that Querl and Jack Taylor of Gloucestershire have been banned until their actions are remedied

(see BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/22690155).

It’s over a century since Hampshire’s ER Bradford was called for throwing and just over 50 years since Paul Gibb ‘called’ ‘Butch’ White at Hove – the latter was a quite ludicrous ‘one off’ at the time of Meckiff, Rorke, Griffin etc.

I feel very sorry for Querl who was hoping to establish a career at Hampshire and has been playing for the Unicorns.

I commented below that Hampshire’s use of five left-armers in a Championship match may have been a club record. It will take a long time to check completely but I have found an instance of four in 2003 – and strangely, after Wasim Akram left, mid-season. In early August, Mullally, Tomlinson, Vaas and Katich bowled at Durham (Chester-le-Street)

In the inter-war period Hampshire had four quite regular left-armers: Bailey, Boyes, Creese and Pothecary – more recently, Sainsbury, Wassell, O’Sullivan, Southern, Maru, James and way back CB Llewellyn. But to find five in an innings relies upon the occasional bowlers like (for example) Henry Horton, Tony Middleton or Jimmy Adams.

So, for now, Sunday is the record ….