Hampshire Cricket History

Even if we’re stuffed it’s unlikely to break records except maybe Amla’s score: The highest innings for Surrey against us is 276 by Ernie Hayes in the 1909 game (next)

Surrey’s highest score against us is 742 in 1909

Our biggest defeat v Surrey (or anyone else) is an innings & 468 runs in 1909

Our next biggest defeat v Surrey is by an innings & 303 in 1897 and that’s the third biggest against anyone. 

The skipper has lost the toss – first time. The pitch looks a bit green so no surprise perhaps that Currie is in for Crane, although I’m always sorry when he’s left out – especially now we’re bowling last. Do we need five seam bowlers? At least our guys are getting a rest after Saturday & Sunday.

PS Middx 2nd XI are 79-0 at midday.

PPS 12.30. – 44-6. We have beaten our lowest first-class score v Surrey but NOT YET our lowest Championship score, 48 all out at Guildford in 1946 (Gover 5-22; Alec Bedser 5-21, Rogers 16*)

PLUS: Hants’ lowest total in the 21st Century is 76 v Essex in 2017. They have 312 first-class scores of less than 100 – just seven of those in this century (make that 313 and eight now!)

Hampshire won the Championship in 1961 and 1973, the latter on uncovered pitches. In neither season were they dismissed for under 100.

Assuming they both play, Liam Dawson reaches his 150th first-class game for Hampshire at the Oval and Tom Alsop his 50th (thanks Tigger)

I’m very pleased that Tom is doing well at number three – I hope at last he’s in for the long haul. It’s taken him into his seventh English season to reach that total – and of course he’s played ‘white ball stuff – but compare with Neville Rogers who came back from the War, made his debut in 1946 and played his 50th game before the end of the following season.

PS During the last match, we were chatting on commentary about 1,000 runs by the end of May – and I had previously wondered whether our skipper might get there this year. Don Starr (thanks) has sent this link to the full story – although the tale about Bradman and bowler Jack Newman misses that Hampshire also stayed on in the rain while he got there:

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/apr/28/wg-grace-don-bradman-race-to-1000-runs-before-end-may-cricket?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

Lunchtime and hard to believe it but at last we have April showers!

Middlesex 181

Hampshire 220-7 (Albert 74*, Fuller 50, Barker 10)

5.10 pm: 311-9 – Toby Albert (only second ever 2nd XI match) out for 93. Stevenson 43*, Ajeet Dale 24*.

370 all out. 121 for the last wicket by Stevenson 81 & Dale 43*

Is this a record for Hampshire 2nd XI’s 10th wicket v Middx 2nd XI on a damp Tuesday in April? (I’ve no idea)

Hampshire beat Yorkshire in the Championship twice in season for the first time and were the first side ever to score over 400 in a fourth innings against Yorkshire to win a match – Adams leading the way with 168*. Billy Taylor took a ‘hat-trick’ v Middlesex – the first by anyone at the Rose Bowl. John Crawley scored two centuries in the same match v Nottinghamshire at the Rose Bowl, the only instance on that ground.

Hampshire beat Essex by just 8 runs in the C&G Trophy. They recovered from 12-4 to post 257-9 thanks mainly to 98 by Kevin Pietersen although they were helped when Darren Gough (2-4) was unable to bowl after two balls of his third over. Essex started well and reached 215-4 but two wickets each for spinners Udal and Warne and 3-17 by ‘Aussie’ Dominic Thorneley saw them dismissed for 249 with just three balls remaining.

Hampshire enjoyed most success in the revamped National League now known as the Pro40. They won five of their eight matches, finishing third which took them into a televised promotion play-off against Glamorgan at the Rose Bowl, which Hampshire won by 151 runs. They posted 265-9 in their 40 overs led by Chris Benham with 158. Glamorgan collapsed and only a last wicket partnership of 25 took them to three figures.

Earlier in the season Hampshire’s total of 310-7 against the same opponents in the C&G Trophy was their first limited-overs score over 300 on the ground, and they won by 165 runs, which remains their highest margin of victory by runs. In the same season, in the National League, they beat Derbyshire by one wicket from the final ball, still their narrowest wickets victory in a limited-overs game on the ground.

In March, Hampshire’s President and former captain, Colin Ingleby-Mackenzie died and on 29 June, many Hampshire players and officials attended his Memorial Service at St Paul’s Cathedral. Out of respect, the position of President was not filled. On the evening of the service, Carberry (90), Mitchell Stokes (62) and Thorneley (50) took Hampshire to their T20 record score of 225-2 and they beat Middlesex by 59 runs (Thorneley 3-30). Stokes from Basingstoke played a number of T20 matches while on a summer contract but departed at the end of the following season without playing first-class cricket.

Permanent floodlights were installed and two international matches were held at the Rose Bowl; a second T20 in which England beat Sri Lanka and a longer match, England v Pakistan. In the first Women’s International match played on the ground, England beat India by three wickets. Sarah Taylor top-scored with 61.

New post – might keep this going over the next few days. At 4pm, Hampshire v Middlesex is looking like another three-day game:

Middlesex 2nd XI: 181 (Fuller 4-57; Barker 2-27 plus one each for Stevenson, Dale & Turner)

Hampshire 2nd XI 35-2: sadly Felix Organ has failed again (18) and his opening partner Prest is also out.

I noted earlier, no sign of Scriven or Currie, thinking the latter might be going to the Oval. There is no Cameron Steel either and I wonder whether he too has gone to London – Joe Weatherley is probably the least secure of the first team at present, with scores of 41, 16, 1 & 8.

2nd XI @ 6.15: 115-4 Middleton gone for 38; Academy’s Toby Albert is 42*.

PS Thank you for alerting us to the appearance of Harry Came for Derbyshire 2nd XI. I’m biased because I know his dad and I know how disappointed they both were that he was discarded so quickly by his home county (not typical I’d suggest). I hope he makes it – it’s a good start as he’s 82* right now.

CLOSE of PLAY: 130-4 – Albert 45* (120 balls); Fuller 17*.

Hampshire won their first trophy for 13 years, beating Warwickshire in the C&G Final at Lord’s. The semi-final was at the Rose Bowl v Yorkshire where Sean Ervine in his first season at Hampshire scored the century that took Hampshire to victory by 8 wickets (Pothas 73*). Ervine scored another century in the final.

In mid-September Hampshire still had hopes of the title until at Canterbury, Nottinghamshire declared setting Kent 420 in 70 overs and bowled them out. The new Champions came to the Rose Bowl for the last match and with Warne still angry about that game, Hampshire posted their record score of 714-5 although he declared on Crawley when, with 311*, he was just five runs short of Moore’s record score for Hampshire. Mascarenhas and Udal bowled Hampshire to victory by an innings and 188 runs.

In the T20, Hampshire beat Kent by five wickets when Udal took a single from the last ball. (Pothas 58*, Lamb 4-28)

On 13 June, England beat Australia by 100 runs in the first T20 International played in this country and only the second in the world. Kevin Pietersen, then with Hampshire, played for England, scoring 34.

In 1961 when Hampshire first won the title, they did so by winning 19 of their 32 matches

In 15 games, they took all 20 of their opponents wickets, while Warwickshire declared with nine down in the first innings and were all out in the second.

Hampshire won just three against declarations by their opponents. Surrey were unlucky early season because the follow-on was not permitted; they lost just six wickets, set us a third day target and we got them with five down

Essex at Cowes lost 14 wickets to our 16 in the match, but they set us a target not least because Marshall was injured in the field on day one, and couldn’t open. Ingleby-Mackenzie’s highest score won it on day three

Finally we beat Gloucestershire (remember them?) in Pompey in June, after the whole of the second day was washed out. We declared without losing a first innings wicket, sacrificing four certain points, but then chased down our target. Gloucs lost 18 wickets in the match to our eight.

In 1973 we played 20 matches and won 10. In the first nine victories we took 20 wickets in every match, then clinched the title with bonus points on the second day v Gloucestershire (remember them?). We had bowled them out in the first innings and on the third day they declared with nine down. We won that, the only game we won without taking all 20 wickets, but after the title was won. They declared not least because the following day they were in their first Lord’s Cup Final and wanted to get to London (they won it).

In 1961 we were in the middle of a brief experiment with covered pitches; in 1973 we were back to uncovered pitches

Over rates? Matches back then were played to fixed times, normally 11.30-6.30 on the first two days with variations on day three (and often an 11 am start). Over these past four days, the two sides bowled 373 overs, just about the full whack (but with overtime) giving an average of 93 overs per day. In the matches in 1973 that were drawn or went to anything like a full three days, the teams usually bowled 300+ overs in three days, with the longest being 346 (we won); 338 (drawn); 332 (won), 323 (drawn), 320 (drawn), 317 (twice, win & draw) & 316 (drawn). If Gloucs and Hampshire had averaged (say) 103 overs per day, those extra 40 overs would surely have seen us winning the game.

There have been 27 Championship matches played to date and 15 of those have finished with a positive result.

Of those 15 matches, 9 saw wickets fall between one every 7.6 overs and one every 9.8 overs – in other words, near enough the equivalent of 10 wickets on each day, or 40 in a match.

The other 6 matches saw wickets fall between one every 10.3 overs and one every 11.7 overs (the latter Hampshire v Leicestershire)

Hampshire’s match over the past four days saw one wicket fall every 12.9 overs – the equivalent of 7.4 wickets per day.

And our bowlers must be knackered – they bowled from 3.30 on Friday – 6.30 on Sunday. Let’s hope they bat first at the Oval

Below, near the end Wheal bowls with a field reminiscent of the days of Vic Cannings bowling in the 1950s with all those short legs (Eagar? Sainsbury? Rogers?)

And I refer you to my post of this time yesterday …