Hampshire Cricket History


Wrong Choice
July 25, 2021, 8:48 am
Filed under: Uncategorized

Clearly I picked the wrong match yesterday to find anything to persuade me there might be ‘something’ in this Hundred lark. In truth it’s not going to happen and that’s just a matter of taste – if you like it fine, I’ve even met people who are fond of singing ‘Sweet Caroline’.

My major objections to the Hundred remain ‘off the field’, principally concerned with its parasitic relationship to the domestic game and the impact it is having and will probably continue to have increasingly on county cricket – in particular the Championship, the 50-over competition and the ten ‘disenfranchised’ counties.

13 Comments

13 Comments

I’m not overly enthused but it is quite exciting again it’s only t20 on Lucozade!!.
More importantly I suppose is that I’ve noted a lot of youngsters getting really in to it at the grounds so that has to be a good thing. I’m still very fearful, like many who reply on here that our treasured County and limited overs standard of cricket will slowly get sidelined…as it stands now the Royal London Cup is nothing short of a 2nd XI competition now with a lot of the first team personnel playing the hundred. I suppose it’s not a bad thing because it gives the ‘upcoming’ players a chance??
I’m just glancing through the latest Cricket paper which arrived through my letterbox at 6am and of course the Hundred takes up the majority of the pages.
I wasn’t too amused to find that on page 13 there was a very brief snippet informing of the New County Divisions and the opening Division one fixtures – this felt like an afterthought!
More positively and again as a Poole resident it was great to have a reasonable article about Tom Prest with views from Jimmy Adam’s (page 22)….
Rant over!!!

Comment by Stephen Anstey July 25, 2021 @ 8:54 am

Anyone know what’s happened to Sam Northeast? His trip northeast seems to have been pretty fruitless

Comment by Dave Allen July 25, 2021 @ 2:44 pm

Hi Dave According to this article it looks as if it was short term injury cover rather than a long term loan with a view to signing https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/sport/cricket/sam-northeast-not-seen-as-a-long-term-option-for-yorkshire-ccc-3300283

Comment by Angela W July 25, 2021 @ 2:50 pm

I entirely agree with your thoughts about the main objections to the Hundred. I think the same new engagement could have been achieved with channelling the money into marketing existing formats and without endangering the existing setups and depleting sides of players. However I was surprised yesterday to receive photos from my brother showing him, his wife and my 4 year old niece at the Hundred women’s match at Headingley. Her parents are not into sports at all and it was a real surprise. They got their tickets free via an NHS deal. I will be intrigued as to what all of them thought of it, particularly my niece. So suddenly I had mixed thoughts. I will be glad if in the long term she engages with cricket as a result. But going back to the beginning of my message this could probably have been achieved without inventing a new format if the same investment had been put into existing formats and competitions, both women’s and men’s. As you have also said however I will always have an interest in how the Hampshire men (and also for me the Hampshire and Vipers women) are doing. Incidentally I was at Farringford (Tennyson’s) gardens when the message came through, so a cricketing connection there as well!!

Comment by Angela W July 25, 2021 @ 3:03 pm

I’m increasingly relaxed about the Women’s game Angela – I think it’s an entirely different case and if it gets girls interested that’s fine with me. (Thanks for the Sam NE info)

Comment by Dave Allen July 25, 2021 @ 3:05 pm

Cricket lovers are considered wilfully perverse by a lot of people. Worryingly, 3 of these people, long time strangers to the game, have contacted me in the past 24 hours to say they are enjoying the Hundred. So, it’s having an impact. But the product already existed and all the resources being fed to the Hundred could have been better used elsewhere. We’re being spread too thin. Imagine following cricket in Nottingham and trying to claim allegiance to Nottinghamshire, Notts Outlaws and Trent Rockets. Something will have to give. Goodbye Cover Drive, Hello Ramp Shot.

Comment by Chris Davis July 25, 2021 @ 3:07 pm

Imagine being considered “wilfully perverse” for regretting that over the main six weeks of the summer, the only county cricket we can watch features our depleted county sides playing one day matches, in a significantly devalued competition!

Comment by Dave Allen July 25, 2021 @ 7:50 pm

Despite the negatives hopefully you will enjoy this phot Dave. Even if he can’t get a game I’m sure Crane will learn a lot.

Hopefully the link works! https://www.instagram.com/p/CRwcvPyhyZ2/?utm_medium=copy_link

Comment by Tom Johnson July 25, 2021 @ 8:40 pm

He isn’t going to learn anything if he’s not playing though despite the drivel the pundits keep coming out with about what a marvellous experience it must be to be around these great players at the IPL etc.
If anything, players who get picked up for franchise tournaments and end up hardly ever playing usually come back to their Counties in a worse state.

Comment by John L July 25, 2021 @ 9:00 pm

A young lad being exposed to the best leg spinner in history. One of the reasons England’s white ball cricket has been so amazing in recent years is exposure to the best coaches and the best players around the world. All the players say the same, it’s not drivel.

Crane will no doubt treasure the experience and come back with some new ideas. I would suggest he wouldn’t have got that from playing 2nd teams in the RLODC.

Comment by Tom Johnson July 25, 2021 @ 9:13 pm

What did Dawson gain from sitting on the bench with England recently? Nothing!

Comment by John L July 25, 2021 @ 9:38 pm

He’s not a young player learning his craft and it wasn’t a new experience for him.

Crane situation is the complete opposite, he’s being coached by Shane Warne! That’s a dream for any leg spinner and he’s clearly buzzing as you can see by his social media post.

Comment by Tom Johnson July 25, 2021 @ 9:51 pm

I seem to recall Shane Warne once observing that the only good cricket coaches were the ones that took you from the hotel to the ground! As for Mason – young? He’s in his seventh season with Hampshire and his most successful season in terms of overs bowled and wickets taken was in 2016. He’s been on a Test tour and played a Test Match. He might as well spend the next month being coached by Warne since as you say, there’s no ‘real’ county cricket to play – and it’s no more than 50/50 that we’d pick him anyway; while England now have Rashid and Parkinson (or Joe Root with his new leg break!).

Comment by Dave Allen July 26, 2021 @ 5:32 am


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