Hampshire County Cricket Club

Hampshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Hampshire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1863 as a successor to the Hampshire county cricket teams and has played at the Antelope Ground from then until 1885, before moving to the County Ground where it played from then until 2000, before moving to the purpose built Rose Bowl on the edge of Southampton. In 1864 the club played its first-class debut, losing to Sussex at the Antelope Ground. Hampshire was never a champion county before the County Championship was officially founded in 1889, more often than not the results for the county were poor. As a result of this it lost its first-class status in 1885, but regained it 1895, the season in which it first featured in the County Championship. The club won its first title in 1961 and its second in 1973. These remain its only Championship titles.

Hampshire played their first one-day match in 1963, but didn't win their first one-day silverware until 1975 when the club won Sunday League. The club won the Sunday League twice more in 1978 and 1986. It has twice won the Benson & Hedges Cup in 1988 and 1991, the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy once in 2005 and the Friends Provident Trophy once in 2009. Having first played Twenty20 cricket in 2003, Hampshire won the Friends Provident t20 in 2010. The County Championship was restructured in 2000, and at the end of the 2002 Hampshire was relegated for the first time. The club remained in the second division for three seasons and since 2004 has competed in the top tier. However, the club was relegated once more in 2011.

Phil Mead is the club's leading run-scorer with 48,892 runs in 700 matches for Hampshire between 1905 and 1936. Fast bowler Derek Shackleton took 2,669 wickets in 583 first-class matches between 1948 and 1969 which remains a club record. Alec Kennedy, whose career lasted from 1907 to 1936, was the first player to score 10,000 runs and take 1,000 wickets for Hampshire. Colin Ingleby-Mackenzie was both Hampshire last amateur captain and first professional captain.

Honours

First XI honours

• Champion County^{[notes 1]} (0)
• County Championship (2) – 1961, 1973
• Sunday/National League (3) – 1975, 1978, 1986
• Gillette/NatWest/C&G/Friends Provident Trophy (3) – 1991,^[3] 2005, 2009
• Twenty20 Cup (1) - 2010
• Benson & Hedges Cup (2) – 1988, 1992

Second XI honours

• Second XI Championship (5) - 1967, 1971, 1981, 1995, 2001
• Second XI Trophy (1) - 2003
• Second XI Twenty20 (0) -
• Minor Counties Championship (0) -

History

Earliest cricket

A Latin poem by Robert Matthew in 1647 contains a probable reference to cricket being played by pupils of Winchester College on nearby St. Catherine’s Hill. If authentic, this is the earliest known mention of cricket in Hampshire. But, with the sport having originated in Saxon or Norman times on the Weald, it must have reached Hampshire long before 1647. In 1680, lines written in an old Bible invite "All you that do delight in Cricket, come to Marden, pitch your wickets". Marden is in West Sussex, north of Chichester, and interestingly close to Hambledon, which is just across the county boundary in Hampshire. Hampshire is used in a team name for the first time in August 1729, when a combined Hampshire, Surrey and Sussex XI played against Kent.

Hambledon and after

The origin of the legendary Hambledon Club is lost. There remains no definite knowledge of Hambledon cricket before 1756, when its team had gained sufficient repute to be capable of attempting three matches against Dartford, itself a famous club since the 1720s if not earlier. Hambledon had presumably earned recognition as the best parish team in Hampshire, but no reports of their local matches have been found. We do not know when the Hambledon Club was founded and it seems likely that some kind of parish organisation was operating in 1756, although there may well have been a patron involved.

The Sussex v Hampshire match in June 1766 is the earliest reference to Hampshire as an individual county team. Whether the Hambledon Club was involved is unrecorded but presumably it was. Some historians believe it was at about this time that the club, as distinct from a parish organisation, was founded.

The Hambledon Club was in many respects a Hampshire county club for it organised Hampshire matches, although it was a multi-functional club and not dedicated to cricket alone. Its membership attracted large numbers of sporting gentry and it dominated the sport, both on and off the field, for about thirty years until the formation of Marylebone Cricket Club in 1787. Hambledon produced some legendary Hampshire players including master batsman John Small and the two great fast bowlers Thomas Brett and David Harris.

Following the demise of the Hambledon Club towards the end of the 18th century, Hampshire continued to be recognised as a major county into the 19th century. But after the 1828 season, Hampshire had long spells without any important matches until the county club was founded in 1864. The county played some important fixtures during 1842 to 1845 and one match versus MCC in 1861 but was otherwise outside cricket’s mainstream through 1829 to 1863.

Origin of club

Hampshire County Cricket Club was founded on 12 August 1863^[4] and played its initial first-class match versus Sussex at the Antelope Ground, Southampton on 7 and 8 July 1864, with Sussex winning by 10 wickets with James Lillywhite claiming ten wickets in the match for 80 runs, including taking his 100th wicket in first-class matches.^[5] The club was recognised as a first-class team from 1864 and was a contender for the "Champion County" title.

This was not a permanent state of affairs, however. In 1886, Hampshire ceased to be a first-class team after years of difficult circumstances and poor results. It did play matches against Surrey and Sussex in 1886 but these matches are not recognised as first-class. Hampshire did not recover first-class status until the beginning of the 1895 County Championship season when it was readmitted to the now official County Championship.

Hampshire is thus recognised as first-class from 1864 to 1885 and from 1895 to the present day. In Hampshires return to the County Championship, the club finished the season in tenth place, some 16 points behind winners Surrey.^[6]

20th century

Between 1900 and 1939 (excluding the years of the First World War in which no first-class cricket was played) the club had little competition success. But the club did have the likes of C. B. Fry, Lionel Tennyson, 3rd Baron Tennyson who captained the side from 1919–1932 as well as captaining the England team in three Tests. Other great players representing the club at this time were Phil Mead, who remains the leading first-class run scorer for Hampshire and All-rounder Alec Kennedy who is the seventh highest wicket taker in first-class cricket history. Hampshire won one of the most remarkable victories in County Championship history when, in 1922, they defeated Warwickshire by 155 runs after having followed on after being dismissed for just 15 they scored 521 after being invited to bat again, set Warwickshire 314 to win and bowled them out for 158. Brown, with 172, and Livsey who scored 110* at number 10, were the heroes.^[7] In 1937 Dick Moore set the individual scoring record for Hampshire against Worcestershire County Cricket Club at Dean Park Cricket Ground in Bournemouth. His 316 took just 380 minutes and contained 43 fours and 3 sixes.^[8] Hampshire won the 1961 County Championship, their first ever County Championship success, finishing the season with 268 points, 18 ahead of Yorkshire. Hampshire won 19 of their 32 matches, losing only 6 matches all season.^[9] The club were led by Colin Ingleby-Mackenzie with Roy Marshall scoring the most runs for the club with 2,455. Derek Shackleton took the most wickets for the club, taking 153 scalps. In the 1973 County Championship Hampshire won the County Championship for a second time, winning the competition by 31 points from Surrey.^[10] The club won 10 of their 20 matches and drew the other 10, meaning the club went the entire season without being beaten. During this season they were led by Richard Gilliat with Gordon Greenidge scoring the most runs for the club with 1,620. Bob Herman and Mike Taylor both took 63 wickets. This remains Hampshires last success in the tournament. In 1979 West Indian Malcolm Marshall, widely regarded as one of the best bowlers to grace the game joined the club. This was to be the start of a 14 year stay with the club. During that time Marshall would go onto take 824 first-class wickets at an anverage of 18.64^[11] and 239 wickets at 24.88 in one-day cricket.^[12] 1984 also saw the arrival of another West Indian, Cardigan Connor who would spend 14 years with the club. Regarded as one of the best players not to play Test cricket, Connor took 614 first-class wickets for Hampshire at an average of 31.74^[13] and 411 wickets at 25.07 in one-day cricket.^[14] In 1985 Hampshire finished second in the County Championship, finishing 18 points behind winners Middlesex. Chris Smith led the way with the bat, scoring 1,720 runs.^[15] and was well backed up by the bowling of Malcolm Marshall who took 95 wickets at the impressive average of 17.68.^[16] Later in, 1988 the club won the Benson & Hedges Cup by beating Derbyshire by 7 wickets at Lord's, largely thanks to a five wicket haul by Stephen Jefferies. The 1990s brought about further success in the first half of the decade, and later struggles in the latter half. In the 1991 County Championship season Hampshire won the NatWest Trophy, defeating Surrey by 4 wickets, with Shaun Udal claiming the man of the match award. This was the clubs first one day honour in this competition. Hampshire again repeated their 1988 success in the Benson & Hedges Cup by winning the 1992 competition. In the final at Lord's they beat Kent by 41 runs, including 90 runs from Robin Smith and three wickets each from Malcolm Marshall and Shaun Udal. This marked Hampshire's second success in the competition. In 1996 Malcolm Marshall returned to coach the club. Three years later tragedy struck when Marshall, who was also coaching the West Indies, was diagnosed with colon cancer at the World Cup. After a short battle with the disease, Marshall died on 4 November 1999. In 1997 work begun on Hampshire's long-awaited new ground. The realisation of this move almost led the club to financial ruin, as encouragement from financial partners Sport England and the hiring of architect Sir Michael Hopkins had led the then part time voluntary committee running the club to lose control of the budget.^[17]

21st century

In 2000 Australian great Shane Warne was signed as the clubs overseas player. The 2000 County Championship was to be the last season that Hampshire would play at the County Ground before they moved in 2001 to the new Rose Bowl ground just outside of Southampton. 2001 also saw current club chairman take over the running of the club, after a period of financial difficulty.[18] In the 2002 County Championship Hampshire were relegated back to Division Two, finishing third bottom in Division One.[19] It was during this season that the club signed former England batsman John Crawley from Lancashire. In the 2003 season Hampshire and England great Robin Smith retired from all forms of cricket after 23 years with the club.[20]  In 2005, Hampshire performed well in both first-class and one-day forms of the game. The side narrowly missed out on winning the County Championship Division 1 by just 2.5 points to Nottinghamshire.[21] In the 2005 Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy Hampshire progressed to the final thanks to a century in the semi-final against Yorkshire by Sean Ervine.[22] In the final at Lord's against Warwickshire Ervine repeated the feat scoring 104 runs as Hampshire won by 18 runs;[23] Hampshires first silverware in 13 years. Two years later, Hampshire progressed to the final of the newly renamed 2007 Friends Provident Trophy at Lord's after finishing top of the South Division.[24] In the final the club played Durham where they lost by 125 runs as the match went into a reserve day due to rain.[25] In 2007 Hampshire chairman Rod Bransgrove announced plans for the redevelopment of the Rose Bowl to bring Test cricket to the ground.[26] Prior to the 2008 County Championship season Australian legend and club captain Shane Warne reiterated his commitment to the club. But shortly before the start of the season Warne announced his retirement from first-class cricket.[27]   This brought to an end the so called 'Warne Era' at the club.  Former club captain Shaun Udal also announced his retirement from first-class cricket having played for Hampshire since 1989.[28] Initially he joined Berkshire, before joining Middlesex. Dimitri Mascarenhas was named Warne's replacement as captain for the 2008 season.[29] In 2008, Hampshire struggled for results and were near the foot of the Division 1 table for the majority of the season. Midway through the season coach Paul Terry stood down and was replaced by former Hampshire batsman Giles White.  A series of strong performances helped Hampshire go from relegation favourites to title outsiders going into the final round of matches. The club ended up finishing in third place, twelve points behind winners Durham.[30]  Before the 2009 season former England all-rounder Dominic Cork joined the club after leaving Lancashire.[31] On 25 July the club won the 2009 Friends Provident Trophy final at Lord's, beating rivals Sussex[32] thanks to a man-of-the-match performance from Dominic Cork, with him taking 4/41.  For the 2010 County Championship the club announced the signings of former England pace bowler's Simon Jones and Kabir Ali, both from Worcestershire.  Hampshire created history by winning the 2010 Friends Provident t20 in front of home support after defeating Somerset – the first team to win a Twenty20 trophy on home turf in England and Wales. On 14 September 2011, in their four day game against Warwickshire at The Rose Bowl, Hampshire were officially relegated to the County Championship Second Division. On 15 September 2011, it was announced that Hampshire would be releasing captain Dominic Cork, wicketkeeper Nic Pothas and kolpak players Johan Myburgh and Friedel de Wet at the end of the season.

Players

Current squad

• No. denotes the player's squad number, as worn on the back of their shirt.
• denotes players with international caps.
•   *  denotes a player who has been awarded a county cap.

Former players

• List of Hampshire CCC first-class players (1864-1885)
• List of Hampshire CCC first-class players (1895-1914)
• List of Hampshire CCC first-class players (1919-1939)
• List of Hampshire CCC first-class players (1946-1980)
• List of Hampshire CCC first-class players (1981-present)
• List of Hampshire CCC List A players
• List of Hampshire CCC Twenty20 players

Captains

Records

For more details on this topic, see List of Hampshire CCC first-class cricket records, List of Hampshire CCC List A cricket records, List of Hampshire CCC Twenty20 cricket records.

Grounds

The Rose Bowl

Hampshire play the majority of their home matches at The Rose Bowl. One reason for building the new Rose Bowl ground was to attract international cricket to the south coast of England. The old County Ground, Hampshire's home since 1885, no longer had the capability to do this. Land in West End, just outside of Southampton was chosen as the location for The Rose Bowl. Construction began in March 1997 and was completed in time for the 2001 season. Hampshire's first first-class match on the ground was against Worcestershire, ending in a victory by 124 runs for Hampshire.^[33]

In July 2008 the ground hosted the Twenty20 Cup final, with Middlesex defeating Kent by 3 runs in the final. In August 2010, the ground hosted the Friends Provident t20 finals day, in which history was created when Hampshire became the first team to win the tournament at their home ground as they defeated Somerset in dramatic scenes off the last ball of the match.^[34] In 2011, England played their first Test match at the Rose Bowl during their series with Sri Lanka.

The ends are called the Pavilion End and the Northern End.

Other grounds

Notes

1. ^ An unofficial seasonal title sometimes proclaimed by consensus of media and historians prior to December 1889 when the official County Championship was constituted. Although there are ante-dated claims prior to 1873, when residence qualifications were introduced, it is only since that ruling that any quasi-official status can be ascribed.

References

Further reading

• Allen, David. Entertain or Perish: Hampshire County Cricket 1946–2006 (2007 ed.). Phillimore. ISBN 1-8607-7448-2. 
• Altham, H S. A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914) (1962 ed.). George Allen & Unwin. ASIN B-003Y-7NDQ-Y. 
• Birley, Derek. A Social History of English Cricket (1999 ed.). Aurum Press. ISBN 1-8541-0941-3. 
• Bowen, Rowland. Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development (1970 ed.). Eyre & Spottiswoode. ISBN 0-4132-7860-3. 
• Webber, Roy. The Playfair Book of Cricket Records (1951 ed.). Playfair Books. ASIN B-0000-CHVV-U. 
• Playfair Cricket Annual – various editions
• Wisden Cricketers Almanack – various editions

External links

• Official website
• CricketArchive – Lists of numerous club records and scorecards