Hampshire Cricket History

The way Essex started last night one point might have been a bonus but that’s small consolation for those who went to see a 13-ball T20 contest at Chelmsford

I had wondered on Thursday of this rain-blighted week whether England’s two-ball match might have been the shortest ever where play had started – to be honest I’m unlikely to check but maybe there has been a one-ball game?

In Hampshire’s case, two matches were completely abandoned last year (v Sussex at Hove and home v Essex) but we only need to go back to 2011 to find a shorter match – v Glamorgan we had just one over and an abandoned match v Somerset. Prior to that Hampshire had enjoyed reasonable T20 weather for a few years. In 2007 Middlesex never started and Chelmsford (again) was abandoned after 16 overs but 2005 was lousy with three matches abandoned, Sussex and Essex at home and inevitably it seems, Chelmsford again. The first two years (2003 and 2004) saw every match get to a result with only Essex at home in 2004 being (slightly) abbreviated.

That makes 10 abandoned of which five were v Essex. Incidentally it may have been handy that Surrey beat Sussex as both those (strong) teams have now lost one match

I’m in no doubt that modern professional T20 demands skills and tactics we never dreamed of when we played it on Tuesday nights around the Portsmouth area 30 years ago but I’m still unable to raise much excitement at the prospect of watching it live – not least because of all the attendant noise and fuss. Still it starts this week (no I won’t be there) and Hampshire are reigning Champions so they’ll be featured on Sky – will KP appear for Surrey? More to the point, who bowls for Hampshire? Not Briggs who is with England and maybe not the captain after his back spasm on Saturday – I’ve had a few in my time and they can last a bit.

So, Tanvir, Dawson, Wood, Ervine and  … Griffiths? Riazuddin? Balcombe/Tomlinson? And will Carberry be fit to bat? Hampshire’s first team squad is quite small this year and has been very lucky with injuries and other departures – perhaps not this week.

It’s just over forty years since Hampshire played their first B&H Cup match v Gloucestershire at Moreton-in-the-Marsh. It was on a Saturday in early May and it rained all day

On the Sunday Hampshire had another fixture at Edgbaston which was reduced to ten overs each side because it rained!

So the two teams came back to Gloucestershire on the Monday & Tuesday and eventually completed the full 55 overs per side

What a brilliant idea! Reserve days for knock-out cricket

It happened again at Hampshire’s Lord’s Finals of 1992 and 2007 so that both games went the distance

So there we are then – just a few of the many pieces of evidence that reserve days make sense – especially in England and maybe especially when grounds like Cardiff and Edgbaston (& Old Trafford?) are preferred (it’s bright and dry today in my bit of Hampshire).

So what do the ICC do for their major trophy Final? Obviously they pick Saturday for the Final with Sunday as a reserve day

Or not …

PS (some hours later)

England may have introduced Limited Overs cricket to the professional world exactly 50 years ago but they have now been in FIVE finals and lost the lot. Mind you until today I thought the one thing they could win was the T20 stuff

Liam Dawson batted very well again at Durham today – as he did on Tuesday

Sohail Tanvir showed why Hampshire signed him

(That’s about it folks)

One simple explanation for the result: Hampshire dropped Mustard on 11 and Borthwick on 12, both relatively straightforward chances. The pair then scored 149 more runs. At 30-3, Durham would have been in trouble, at 164-2 they were cruising

Mitigating circumstances? ‘Dimi’ suffered a back spasm and could not bowl.

Hampshire are still a good 40-over side but this was a day to forget, Carberry has a badly bruised thumb too (from his dismissal ball) and he did not field

It’s halfway now. The Championship is disappointing (and Worcestershire seem to be winning again today) but the 40 over league section is still Hampshire’s to lose.

The other interesting aspect, watching on TV, was how few people bothered to watch on a reasonable Saturday afternoon. 40 over attendances don’t seem huge this year and I’m not convinced they will increase with another 20 overs added next year.

From the BBC:

“Lancashire seal a eight-wicket win over Northants inside two days after a row over the state of the Old Trafford pitch.”

The Pitch Liaison Officer arrived (Jack Birkenshaw) but did not even bother to convene a panel for a match that lasted less than two days (32 wickets fell) on one of the relaid pitches, after Old Trafford turned everything around.

Has there even been one points fine since the Rose Bowl ‘spinning’ farce v Notts a couple of years ago? Last year Warwickshire beat Worcs on a pitch Steven Rhodes described as the worst he has ever seen – result? No action.

It leaves Lancashire and Northants miles ahead although interesting to see Northants lose for first time in weeks after the departure of Aussie bowler Copeland

Sunday’s Final could be decent if the weather holds (BIG IF apparently) but I’ve been at home for most of past two days trying to complete the Index on the 15o Book. Indexing is not the best fun I’ve ever had by some distance but I have at least watched the two semi finals. I’m pleased about both results but neither ‘match’ was much of an advert for 50 overs was it? India won by 8 wickets with 15 overs to spare and England by 7 wickets with 12+ to go and both results loked probable from early on

By contrast Kent beat Sussex yesterday by 3 wickets in a 40 over match with 673 runs and three centurions. That must have been fun

There’s fun at Old Trafford too. Hampshire’s hopes of promotion depend upon an excellent second half to the season but the two leaders might be helping today. 18 wickets have fallen already (it’s not over yet) so if Lancashire could wrap up victory with neither side getting any batting points all we need is Tony Pigot to fine Lancashire 20 points. That would be most handy!

Hampshire’s victory tonight against a good Derbyshire side was pretty impressive and certainly boosted their run-rate. Carberry contributed importantly as usual, McKenzie batted nicely and Tanvir took three wickets without quite seeming in rhythm – but the two ‘stars’ were Dawson with a really fine all-round performance and Wheater who batted very well and kept in a lively fashion, constantly reminding batsmen of his presence. Those two may not be the tallest in the team but they shared a terrific partnership and gave BIG performances. So at around half-time in the 40-over competition we are top of the league.

As I write Australia are having some luck trying to reach the winning total by the 30th over. It’s odd to be watching Shane Watson, Philip Hughes and Glenn Maxwell as their first three – and maybe George Bailey at four?  Perhaps Herath will bowl them out but I don’t think Sri Lanka will finish top unless there’s a dramatic collapse.

PS: Not only the first three but sure enough Bailey at four and just in, Voges at five – so Hampshire from one to five.

What is perhaps most unusual about the Essex score on Friday 14 June 2013 is that it was the lowest by any side since 1983 (Surrey 14 all out v Essex) when matches were played over three days and scores were often lower than they are today.

The Essex innings lasted 14.2 overs with six ‘ducks’ – neither (see below) a record.

Hampshire have recorded one lower first-class score and two others in the twenties:

1878: Hampshire started with an innings defeat in 1878 v MCC at Lord’s, when they were dismissed for 24 & 65. Rylott had match figures of 14-34. Hampshire’s 24 was their record lowest at the time and their third lowest first-class score ever.

1922: Hampshire won one of the most remarkable victories ever v Warwickshire at Edgbaston on 14-16 June 1922: Warwickshire: 223 (Santall 84, Hon FS Calthorpe 70, Boyes 4-56, Newman 4-70), Hampshire: 15 (Mead 6*, Howell 6-7, Calthorpe 4-4) & (following on) 521 (Brown 172, Livsey 110*). Warwickshire (needing 314 to win) 158 (Smith 41, Quaife 40, Newman 5-53, Kennedy 4-47)

The Hampshire first innings of 15 lasted 8.5 overs or 53 balls which is the shortest ever completed first-class innings. The eight ducks equals the record for a first-class innings and there has been only one other instance in the Championship.

1958: Hampshire had been leading the Championship and were in contention for their first title when they went to Burton-on-Trent to play Derbyshire on 13 August. Derbyshire were invited to bat and at 8-1 rain caused play to be abandoned for the day. On the next day Derbyshire were dismissed for 74 in the 33^rd over then Hampshire managed just 23 all out in 16 overs and four balls, with five ‘ducks’. The game finished that day with Derbyshire scoring just 107 in their second innings but dismissing Hampshire for 55 in the 30^th over. 39 wickets fell on day two and Malcolm Heath had match figures of 13-87 but finished on the losing side, as did Mike Barnard who top-scored in both innings with 5 & 16. Hampshire ended the season runners-up.

At around 5.45pm I observed to one of the Gloucs Committee that when Leicestershire were down at the start of the season they looked probably the weakest Division Two side but that over the past two days Hampshire had matched that performance. We do look poor in the Championship but then I heard that Essex had been dismissed for 20 today – an event that warranted a mention on BBC Radio Four’s 6 o’clock news! It’s excellent timing as it will surely overshadow this very odd and very disappointing couple of days at the Ageas Bowl. From Hampshire’s point-of-view it’s perhaps a good time to shift to 40 and 20 over cricket which we tend to play rather more effectively.