Hampshire Cricket History

Did very nicely again despite getting little of the strike. Then David Willey bowled one of the most extraordinary opening overs I’ve ever seen: a boundary four, a wicket, four wides and a mad run-out that took the third umpire about half-an-hour to figure who was out!

At which point my TV broke down!

It seems the finish was quite exciting …

Three stories:

1. Paul (Comment below) alerts us to the possible disappearance of the toss in next year’s Championship, whenever the visitors wish to field first. It’s intended to prevent the preparation of green seamer-friendly pitches in favour of spinners. It might end up just favouring batters and drawn matches
2. Eoin Morgan says that England are switching the T20 side around this week to get people into the international game because the English T20 isn’t good enough. I wonder who it is at ECB that writes his script?
3. Shashank Manohar is President of the Indian Board and now Chairman of the ICC and he’s not happy with the way that India, Australia and England helped themselves to the biggest slices in last year’s carve-up. Good for him. He was quoted as saying “you cannot make the poor poorer, and the rich richer, only because you have the clout”. I wonder if that nice Mr Clarke is listening?

(Over 15, T20 today) James Vince, so far top scorer and Shahid Afridi with three wickets best for Pakistan

Interesting day in Australia. One thing in favour of pink balls down under is that more of it is on UK television at a reasonable time

Meanwhile another Hampshire ‘leggie’, Imran Tahir took 5-38 but his side were beaten heavily in a Test match in which the first batsman on the first day scored 40 and no one else managed that in the four completed innings that followed.

T20 Sohail Tanvir bowling, James Vince batting

The series between India and South Africa was being played in the English County Championship, Tony Pigot would be having a field day and South Africa would be ahead, because India would have been fined 300 points

You may spot that today is the 150th anniversary of the delightful Alice in Wonderland. The real Alice (Liddell) married the Hampshire cricketer Reginald Hargreaves and they are buried together in the New Forest

Apparently it is Richard Lewis in the front. I’m very surprised – also it is Gordon not Danny. Back Row next to Mick Hill is Bill Buck. I’m now wondering whether it’s 1970 not 1971 because among other things Gordon’s first team breakthrough was late 1970 and Wheatley played quite a bit that year. Hants II played Surrey II at Basingstoke that year and the report mentions seven men, all in that photo.  Anyone know what O St C Gooding looked like?

PS If you look it up on Cricket Archive the same applies – those men named but not the whole team and not the full scores. John Rice played for Surrey

My pal Richard McIlwaine has just sent me this fabulous 2nd XI ‘pic’ from 1971. Is it Basingstoke?

I’ve written back as follows:

I’ve had a look at 2nd XI in 1971 but can only find one match at Basingstoke in which David Turner top-scored but he’s not there. However, Keith Wheatley didn’t play in the 2nd XI Competition that year so maybe this is a friendly or a knock-out match?

I can recognise some:

England are playing the UAE in a 20 over match. It seems they’ve named about 35 players but they didn’t all bat. Of those that did, only one failed to reach double figures, as James Vince was run out for two after four balls.

There’s more (see previous post). Even stronger argument for reducing the Championship to about three games every March (this from the BBC)

“Fans at all forms of county cricket – four-day one-day and T20 – were all up on the previous year, with the Championship up by 18,000 to 513,000.

One-Day Cup attendances were up by 500 per match on 2014, while there were 800 more T20 spectators per game.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/34900083