Hampshire Story

[CricketFanDan]

Here we go with my first story, growing up in Southampton naturally I am a Hampshire supporter therefore I had no trouble choosing which side I wanted to take to the top.
As we all know Hampshire are a prolific force in one day cricket, especially t20 cricket where they have reached final day a number of times, it is also clear that we are not so good in the longer format but that is something I am going to focus on and try to change. The squad looks good and there is lots of talent and I see no reason why we can't gain promotion then go on and win the title a couple of seasons after.

Key Players To Watch

Firstly Michael Carberry, he is a great batsmen in all forms and can bat a day in 4 day cricket or bat aggressively at 10 runs an over in one day cricket if required, if he has a good season I am certain we will do well.

James Vince, a fantastic young player who will one day play for England, he is just starting to develop into a great batsmen and this year is handed the t20 captaincy.

Will Smith, joining us from Durham Will Smith is set to take over the role of Neil McKenzie as the player to bat through the innings, Smith is a talented cricketer and his stats do not do him justice.

Chris Wood, in the past Wood has been tested under pressure and he has delivered, a very good one day bowler this year I would like to try and turn him into a dangerous county championship bowler

Kyle Abbott, Kyle is our overseas players this year and is a South African quick bowler, he will be the lead bowler in our attack and hopefully lead the bowling attack to success.

Finally Danny Briggs, Danny is a great bowler who has played for England in the past although he isn't on the England radar at the moment but, he is only young and there is no doubt that he will play for them again at some point in the future. At the moment I selfishly glad he isn't as he can play for this Hampshire team and continue his brilliant form he has had with us over recent years.

For our first game of the season Worcestershire join us at the Ageas Bowl on the 6th of April 2014, see you there!

[CricketFanDan]

So here we are at the Ageas Bowl ready to begin our campaign, the pitch looks like a nice batting deck and we win the toss and go out for a bat, below are the two teams, the ones to watch on the opposition I believe are Mitchell, Ali and of course Ajmal. We go for 3 front line pace bowlers with Wood, Abbott and Coles with the spinning options of Briggs and Dawson as well as Ervine who can act as a fourth seamer.

Hampshire First Innings
A shaky start for us as Carberry is out in the first over, not the start we wanted at all. An hour into the morning session things are looking up, Adams and Smith are getting a feel for the pitch and we are 45-1. We continue to bat well and don't lose any more wickets although the run rate does drop and we reach lunch 83-1, Adams 34 and Smith 39.

First over after lunch and unfortunately Smith is beaten by a good ball from Choudhry, he goes for 39.
We begin to build another partnership and gently up the run rate, we reach 160 before Adams trys hit Moeen Ali out the ground and misses the ball and is bowled middle stump, he departs for 67. Ajmal finally strikes and Dawson falls 15 minutes before tea, 186-4, we reach tea 204-4.

We make a good start after tea, Vince pushes on but sadly he is Ajmal's next victim and is out for 92, 249-5. Ervine departs for 32, 314-6, Wheater falls not long after, he makes a very brisk 59 that included 9 fours and 2 sixes, 337-7.
Coles and Wood both depart before close of play and we finish day 1 on 369-9.

It doesn't take long before we lose our final wicket and we are all out for 370.

Worcestershire First Innings

It doesn't take long before our overseas signing claims his first wicket for the club, Mitchell is out only making 1 run. Soon after Wood gets Moeen Ali for 16, Coles picks up one more wicket before lunch on day 2, 81-3.

Straight after lunch Coles picks up another wicket, Kervezee this time. Opener Kevin Johns and Matt Pardoe begin to build a meaningful partnership for the first time in this innings before Abbott dismisses Johns for 89 and at tea Worcestershire are 170-5.

A strong evening session for us sees 4 wickets fall as Worcestershire pass the follow on target thanks to a good 70 from Richard Oliver, Abbott and Wood now have 3 wickets each, Coles has 2 and Ervine has 1.

First ball of the day and Oliver falls to Wood, they are all out for 258 and we lead by 112 runs.

Hampshire Second Innings

For Carberry, this isn't a match he will want to remember as he is dismissed for a first ball duck. A successful morning session for us follows as we end it 116-3 with a lead of 228 runs. The other wickets to fall were Smith for 21 and Vince for 18. Jimmy Adams is looking good again on 60*.
First over out after lunch and Adams is out, 117-4. We continue to bat really well for the rest of the session, Dawson and Ervine see us to a 330 run lead now before Dawson was out 2 balls before tea for 51. We look to be positive and hit as many runs as possible in the next hour and hopefully declare with around a 400 run lead and 30-45 minutes of play left in the day to make some early inroads into there batting line up.
Frequent wickets fell during the first hour but we declared 303-9, Ervine the stand out player with 80 to his name. This gives us a lead of 416 runs and 45 at Worcestershire tonight.

Worcestershire Second Innings

A decent start for us as we take one wicket before close of play and restrict them to just 19-1. Coles was the wicket taker and he picked up the wicket of Johns, 397 to win on the final day.

Another good session for Worcestershire, they only lost the wicket of Mitchell, Coles again and got to lunch 129-2, 287 to win.

Finally we get a good session, 5 wickets fall, 2 of which go to Coles, 2 for Dawson and 1 for Abbott, with the opposition at 201-7 we cannot lose this game and look in a strong position to win it.

A brilliant performance from Coles sees him take all 3 wicket in 15 minutes after tea. Worcestershire are all out for 223 and we win by 192 runs, Coles finishes with figures 7-61 and gets 9 for the match.

Leading Run Scorers
1) Jimmy Adams - 127
2) Sean Ervine - 112
3) James Vince - 110

Leading Wicket Takers
1) Matt Coles - 9
2) Kyle Abbott - 4
3) Chris Wood - 4

[DaveK93]

Great start mate, looks a good read!

[CricketFanDan]

Great start mate, looks a good read!

Cheers mate, appreciate it

[Hampshire]

Good start, keep it up, very surprised not to see Tomlinson in your starting lineup!

[CricketFanDan]

Good start, keep it up, very surprised not to see Tomlinson in your starting lineup!

Was difficult to leave him out, he will be in soon enough though I'm sure!

[CricketFanDan]

We're off to Bristol now to take on Gloucestershire, we won't be changing our winning team from the last game, we have won the toss again on a wicket that looks like it has some runs in it so we obviously choose to bat. Gloucestershire have some good players but I believe on paper we are a much stronger team and look to capitalize on this.


A slow start for us, 9 off the first 7 overs and then a wicket falls, Jimmy Adams goes for 2. We continue to bat slowly in the first session, unfortunately we lose two more wickets in the process, Carberry the first man to go for 27 and Vince the next man for 7, both out lbw to Fuller. 77-3
It's not long after lunch before we loose the next man, Dawson for 12. We continue throughout the session without losing another man and reach tea 164-4.
A slow final session sees us to 251-4, Will Smith is the first of our players to score a century this season 100* and Ervine continues his fine form with 89*.

Ervine doesn't last long on day 2 and goes for 93, narrowly missing out on his century and Smith goes soon after for 108, 274-6.
We continue to lose wickets until Coles and Briggs put on a last wicket stand, mainly Coles who went ballistic and smashed 68* before Briggs was bowled at the other end, we managed to reach 362 all out.

An extremely poor bowling performance compared to the one in the previous game, we go the rest of the day only taking one wicket, Gloucestershire finish 273-1, Briggs the only man to take a wicket as he bowled Klinger for 65.
Things didn't get any better going into day 3, Gloucestershire's Dent and Alex Gidman both hit large century's before being dismissed and then Roderick and Marshall come in and hit a rapid 100 run partnership, in short, Gloucestershire declare 501-3, a lead of 139.

A half decent start before we lose both Carberry (14) and Adams (11) 29-2. We reach tea on day 3 without losing any more wickets, 75-2, still trailing by 64 runs.

25 minutes into the final session of the day and Vince departs with 33 to his name, Norwell gets the wicket, Dawson can only manage 6 before he falls as well, 116-4, trailing by 23.
With an hour left in the day we pass turn the deficit into a lead, Smith 51*, Ervine 22*. Soon after, Ervine departs for 22, we only have a lead of 6.
We reach the end of the day 179-5, 40 ahead, Smith 62* and Wheater 22*

Wheater is the first man to go today, an unfortunate run out, he goes for 64. We lead by 104.
Wood, Coles and Abbott all depart quickly before lunch, hardly making an impression of the scorecard.
After lunch Smith takes the strike from Briggs but he can only get to 108, the same score in made in the first innings.

We now had a 151 run lead with nearly 2 session left in the game, we needed wickets.

Abbott got the perfect start bowling Klinger early, sadly Dent and Gidman both continued where they left off in the first innings and hit half century's and brought the game home, Gloucestershire won by 9 wickets.

It looked a completely different team from the won that so early beat Worcestershire, to only take 4 wickets in the match is poor and may be looked at, the batting wasn't too bad, Smith is adapting well to his role at three, Carberry will be looking for some runs, Dawson is the player at most risk of losing his place with not many runs or wickets.

Leading Run Scorers

1) Will Smith - 276
2) Sean Ervine - 227
3) Adam Wheater - 127

Leading Wicket Takers

1) Matt Coles - 9
2) Kyle Abbott - 5
3) Chris Wood - 4

[CricketFanDan]

We travel to Derbyshire for our next game in the county championship, we make 1 change to are starting line-up, on a fast wicket Danny Briggs is out and James Tomlinson is in, Liam Dawson keeps his place as a spinning option. We win the toss and bowl.

Two wickets fall in the morning session, Coles the picks up the wicket of Borrington and Wood dismisses Godleman, 89-2.
No wickets fall in the afternoon session and at tea Derbyshire are 176-2.
Finally a good session for us, we begin by taking the wicket of Madsen first ball after tea and then we take 4 more wickets before close of play, 2 wickets each for Coles and Wood and 1 for Abbott. 276-7 at close of play on day 1.

Derbyshire make a fantastic start to day 2, they go nearly the whole session without losing a wicket, Palladino was out for 59 just before lunch, this partnership puts them in charge as they nearly pass 400, 399-8.

Wood and Abbott take the final two wickets but not before they add another 40 runs, 439 all out. Chesney Hughes the savior with 117*

Adams is the first man to go, he only manages 6 and Smith follows soon after as he is caught and bowled for 4, 16-2.
We begin to build a partnership but then Vince departs for 20, Dawson the next man in and he needs some runs! 75-3
Dawson falls 30 minutes before close of play on day 2, 26 to his name, Carberry is going well and has passed the 50 mark for the first time this season.
152-4 at close Carberry 72* and Ervine 16*, we still trail by 287 runs.

A brilliant catch sees the back of Ervine for 31, 172-5.
We reach lunch without and thankfully don't lose another wicket, Carberry has now passed 100 and Wheater nearly 50, we only require 40 more runs to avoid the follow on, another strong session with the bat will help us out.

40 minutes into the session and we pass the follow on total, Carberry 114* Wheater 74*
We get to the end of the session without losing a wicket, Wheater has hit a brilliant century 340-5, 99 behind.

After tea we up the run rate, we lose Wheater quickly for 116 and Wood (8) and Carberry who hit a brilliant 145 soon follow, Coles and Abbott then hit some bit shots and Tomlinson comes in and joins the party before we are all out for 425, only 14 behind and with an hour left of play today.

Derbyshire bat the rest of the day without the loss of a wicket, 37-0, a lead of 51.

Only one wicket falls in the morning session on the final day, Tomlinson claims his first of the game and Godleman goes for 49.
Ervine comes on to bowl after lunch and takes the wicket of Borrington for 72 and Derbyshire go onto 218-2 before they declare with a lead of 233 with around a 40 minutes left of the afternoon session.

53-2 at tea from 10 overs, Carberry and Smith the two men to depart. This leaves 180 to win from the final session.

Things start slow for Vince and Adams and then Vince goes for 14, Dawson steps to the crease and hits two massive sixes and its clear of his intention, Adams picks up his pace but he falls soon after, Ervine comes and goes without scoring, with an hour left in the day we need 95 runs to win.
Dawson and Wheater come out to bat, cautiously at first but then start to go big, they get within 50 runs and then both depart quickly Dawson makes 36 and Wheater 35.
7 wickets down and 30 minutes left Coles and Wood try to bring it home, Wood then quickly goes for 6 and with 44 runs still needed a win looks unlikely, Coles hit some big blows but it isn't enough as we reach 212-8 at close, the match is drawn.

In the end the game was much closer to a result than I expected, we were only 24 runs off winning but on the other hand they only needed two more wickets, I am a little disappointed with our bowling, Tomlinson didn't form as well as I hoped and he may go and to the second team.

Leading Run Scorers
1) Adam Wheater - 298
2) Will Smith - 285
3) Sean Ervine - 258

Leading Wicket Takers
1) Matt Coles - 13
2) Chris Wood - 8
3) Kyle Abbott - 7

[CricketFanDan]

Back at the Ageas Bowl for our next game and we are joined by Surrey, we make two changes from the team that drew with Derbyshire, firstly, Tomlinson is back out and Briggs is back in and secondly, Liam Dawson is out and Joe Gatting comes in. We lose the toss and we have been put in to bat on wicket that looks like it has something in it for the bowlers.

Adams is the first man to depart, he only makes 6 before he edges one to the keeper off the bowling of Meaker 15-1. Soon after, Meaker gets a second and Carberry goes for 12.
Vince comes and goes, only making 10 and we look in a spot of bother at 41-3, Ervine comes to the crease who has been batting well so far this year, together he and Smith see it too lunch without the loss of another wicket, 70-3.
Straight after lunch Ervine departs for 9, not a good start. Gatting comes in on Hampshire debut and manages a brisk 21 before he is walking back to the changing rooms too, are leading run scorer Wheater now at the crease with Will Smith, who is once again proving a good replacement for McKenzie as the rock of the innings. Together the pair see us to tea as we reach 152-5.
236-5 at close, a good knock from both players, Smith 89 not out and Wheater 69.

Not the best start for us on day 2, both Smith and Wheater go in the first over 239-7
Wood and Coles score 30's before we are all out for 302.

Coles is the first man to pick up a wicket as we see the back of Harinath for 30, Wood chips in not long after with Rory Burns falling for 43 and Surrey reach tea on the second day 147-2.
We only manage to pick up two wickets in the final session of the day, Davies the first to go after a good ball from Abbott and Solanki the second who was caught in the deep off the bowling of Wood.

They reach lunch in the third day without losing a wicket 367-4, leading by 65.
Will Smith has a bowl after lunch and picks up a couple of wickets, Roy the first and O'Brien the second, Gary Wilson continued to punish us and passed 150 before he was bowled by Briggs and they declared soon after on 504-7, a lead of 202 runs.

Meaker strikes early again, Carberry departing for a mere 8, we get to 79 before we lose the next wicket, Adams for 44 and not long after Vince aggressively drives the ball and is caught for 13.
We lose Ervine just before close of play on the third day which leaves us 127-4, Smith 35* and Gatting 0* 75 runs behind.

Smith and Gatting go out to bat the following morning and are welcomed to a pitch where the ball is moving everywhere, with some luck and good batting we manage to go the whole session without losing a wicket, both batsmen pass 50 and we go into lunch with a 14 run lead, 216-4.

After lunch Gatting doesn't last long and goes for 63, 231-5.
Just where things are starting to look up, Wheater goes for 31 and in the same over Coles and Wood depart, suddenly we have ended up 269-8, only 67 ahead.
Abbott puts up a fight and his 22 but he goes and Briggs soon follows, Smith runs out of partners and we end up 294 all out, 92 ahead.

With 30 minutes still left in the afternoon session we need wickets and lots of them.

Sadly they reach tea without losing any, 29-0, 64 to win off the final session.

We take one wicket in the final session as they cruise over the line in just over an hour, a good ball from Wood bowled Harinath but its not enough.

Credit to Will Smith who batted so well, Wheater also has been brilliant all season. We just cannot seem to take wickets which is costing us games.

Leading Run Scorers
1) Will Smith - 454
2) Adam Wheater - 398
3) Sean Ervine - 284

Leading Wicket Takers
1) Matt Coles - 14
2) Chris Wood - 11
3) Kyle Abbott - 8