Hampshire 2017 Part 2

In this part I want to focus on white ball cricket having covered the County Championship in part one.

I didn’t see as much white ball stuff compared to the red ball so will be much shorter than part one.  In 2016 it felt like the end of an era as the run of six consecutive Finals Days was ended with Hampshire finishing eighth in the South group. As the 2017 T20 campaign unfolded 2016 looked more like being a blip as another Finals Day was reached, the seventh in eight seasons.

Group qualification from the beginning looked like it would be straightforward as Hampshire won the first three games impressively but then stumbled with three defeats from four including a no result at home to Surrey.  A DLS win at Bristol stopped the rot temporarily and meant Hampshire embarked on a win lose win lose sequence of games.  Finally two impressive wins against Kent and Glamorgan meant knockout qualification was secured with a game to spare.  The final group game against Somerset was to decide if Hampshire would be home or away but it was a horror show as Hampshire folded to 91 all out.  This meant that Hampshire were on the road for the quarter final and a first ever T20 encounter with Derbyshire.

Hampshire thanks to a masterclass from overseas star Shahid Afridi’s 101 set Derbyshire who had waited twelve years for a quarter final 248 and they were never able to get near losing by 101 runs.  Hampshire were on the way to Edgbaston and were to try to overcome the four previous semi final defeats at the Birmingham ground.  They fared better than the previous three finals day attempts where the result was obvious at halfway.  Eventual winners Notts were kept to what I thought was a not unreachable 169.  Poor game management in the chase with Afridi brainlessly trying to take the only fielder on the boundary first ball of the innings angered me, now he may have won the quarter at Derbyshire but this was needless when even a cameo from him might have helped Hampshire get home.  Wickets were lost at regular intervals when I felt that it was an chase that Hampshire needed to take deep.  Sadly Hampshire were all out for 146 after 18.4 overs never got the opportunity and the disappointment of Edgbaston continues.

As stated above Shahid Afridi was the overseas pro signed in addition to George Bailey.  The return of Afridi was very unpopular on social media and I wasn’t particularly thrilled to see him return either.  He was never as bad as his critics said and he won a few games with the ball but his batting bar the special innings at Derby never got going.

Batting wise the team were inconsistent and often it was felt that if James Vince failed then Hampshire would fail.  His 542 at 38 and at a hugely impressive strike rate of 158 was vital in getting Hampshire to the knockout stages.  George Bailey also chipped in with 301 and Roussow started to show glimpses of what persuaded Hampshire to sign him with 255 runs from 10 innings before injury cut short his season.  Calvin Dickinson got his chance and impressed immediately with a 50 at Canterbury and played a good supporting role to Afridi’s hundred in the quarter final.  To some extent I think Hampshire were often responsible for their own downfall such as in the semi final where they just seemed to look to attack non stop.  This when it comes off is spectacular and is definitely the modern way but also explains that when it fails why Hampshire were sometimes bowled out for low scores.

Also vital in Hampshire qualifying was the spin trio of Afridi, Dawson and Crane all three of them bowled with control and helped squeeze teams in the middle overs.  The 45 wickets they took between them were responsible for just under half of the wickets taken by Hampshire.

The seamers were rotated almost every game and all of them were regularly expensive.  Nobody in this department achieved an economy rate of below 8 and whilst it is a batsman’s game they still could have done with some more control especially for the death overs after the spinners had generally done such a good job.

There isn’t much I would change next season except for hoping that the seamers can provide a bit more control and if Afridi was to return for a third successive season then there would be no complaints from me.  I thought him bowling alongside Dawson and Crane gave Hampshire a real strength that not many other teams out there have.

The Royal London Cup was so long ago now and the part of the season that I was away for a lot of so will touch on that just lightly.  I only saw the opening victory at Canterbury and was sat in the Pavilion for the final washed out group game at home to Sussex.

That washout meant that Hampshire finished 6th and List A cricket was over by the middle of May, a big shame for me as I really enjoy 50 over cricket.  Looking from afar Hampshire never seemed sure of what their best team was and rotated regularly using 16 players in 7 games.

Hampshire scored 4 centuries with James Vince leading the way with the bat averaging 77 helped by a county List A record 178 against Glamorgan.  The previous record by Gordon Greenidge had stood for 42 years and an innings I wish I had been there for.  Unfortunately his innings was in vain as Glamorgan chased the total with a ball to spare.

Mason Crane was the standout bowler with 14 wickets at 27 with an economy rate of exactly 6. Dawson was the only other ever present in the bowling department and contributed 9 wickets at 33 at just 4.5 an over.

Three victories four defeats meant sixth place which is probably where they deserved to be.  The format of this competition with just eight games and only the top three qualifying do mean that its not easy and whilst improvements will be needed it does look like the least important of the three trophies that Hampshire compete for.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2017 Hampshire Review Part 1

First post in a longtime and I thought I would put down some views on the 2017 season for Hampshire now that there is a bit of daylight between the time of writing and the tense nerve wracking finish at Edgbaston.

I’m still not sure whether to put the 2017 season down as a success or failure?  I guess somewhere in the middle is most accurate as Division One survival was achieved and a seventh Finals day appearance in eight seasons was also earned.    That sounds not too bad but the fact is that survival should have been earned weeks before the last day in the Championship and  another semi final defeat at our hoodoo ground Edgbaston meant the season will be remembered not as fondly as it could have been.

Let’s focus first on the Championship, it seemed as though we couldn’t go five minutes without being reminded that we were lucky to be in the First Division and the name Kolpakshire was never far away from our critics lips.  Now I would certainly concede that Hampshire were lucky to be reprieved at the end of 2016 but the Kolpakshire jibe got really tiresome very quickly and was often used by people who’s own team had no shortage of their own non English qualified players.  It was important in most Hampshire supporters minds that we showed the rest of the country that we deserved to be in the top tier as the wider cricketing public couldn’t wait for Hampshire to fail.

On Hampshire’s day they could mix it with every team in the division even runaway Champions Essex thanks to finding a settled bowling attack that had variety and posed a constant threat to opposition batsman.  Unfortunately the batting could never quite match up to this and was shaky all season.  Two early season wins were gained despite picking up no bonus batting points although one of the wins was achieved by chasing over 300 in the fourth innings.  More often than not the batting was bailed out by the bowlers.  Late season this help dried up and it very nearly cost Hampshire their top flight status.

Just 14 games in the Championship meant that batsmen getting to 1000 was going to be more difficult than it had been traditionally but nobody even got anywhere near.  James Vince was the leading runscorer with 626 at an average of 32.94.  It meant eyebrows were raised when he was picked to go to Australia but we all know James is better than this and hopefully his potential will be fulfilled this winter.

The other batsmen struggled for consistency and only 7 centuries were scored by Hampshire this year although there were 4 scores of 97-99 as well.  Sadly we saw the farewell of Michael Carberry,  resuming his career after treatment for cancer in April he got a ton against Cardiff MCCU and so nearly got a hundred vs Middlesex in the first home Championship game but that was as good as it got and when it was announced that he was leaving for Leicestershire I think most people felt the time was right.  Michael has been one of my all time faves for Hampshire since arrival in 2006 and his red ball form in the late 2000s combined with his white ball form in 2012 and 2013 was always a joy to watch.  I know I’m not the only person who felt he was hard done by England and I hope that his two years at Leics will be a success.

Rilee Rossouw goes down as a big disappointment, his arrival was exciting as it felt Hampshire were signing a quality batsman that would give some extra depth to Hampshire.  There were concerns raised at the same time that signing him would prevent youth from getting a chance and were also the reasons why Hampshire were given the lazy Kolpakshire tag.  Roussow made his highest score 99 when he was batting with a broken finger but struggled otherwise and even after a run of ducks he still continued to be selected.  This disappointed me as it was counter productive to the team and did mean that youth was not given a chance as often as it should have been.  Injuries curtailed his season and hopefully next year Rilee will have learnt more about English conditions and try to adapt to them.

Tom Alsop was the main victim of Roussow’s arrival, a breakthrough year in 2016 in a struggling side meant that Tom gained recognition with an England Lions tour.  Scores on the tour were not prolific and combined with the arrival of Roussow meant he started the season out of the side.  The 50 over cup gave him his chance and he took it with a ton at Canterbury but still often found himself making way.  His return to the side ended up being due to an injury to Lewis McManus and he took the gloves towards the end of the season.  His keeping certainly let nobody down but an average of just 16.85 meant that 2017 was a step back in his career.

George Bailey and Jimmy Adams showed glimpses of the form that was needed by Hampshire to sustain a title challenge, they made four of the seven centuries made by Hampshire.  Bailey played just 10 championship matches scored 610 at 38 and would have almost certainly scored more than James Vince had he played as much.  Bailey missed the first three games to get married and also missed a match in September to travel to Pakistan to be in a World XI T20 squad.  He led the side well I thought including some good declarations but the Pakistan trip meant that people questioned his commitment and the decision to release him to travel to this when Hampshire’s safety was not yet secure.

It never quite got going for ever present Sean Ervine after his excellent late 2016 form. Two fifties and a Double Ton against Warwickshire were the best of his efforts and where Sean in the past used to get a lot of unfair criticism from supporters in my opinion they were starting to have a point.

Joe Weatherley with the arrival of Roussow was knocked down the pecking order and started his season on loan at Kent but injuries meant he was recalled and given an opportunity late season that he was unable to take.  In addition it meant chances for Calvin Dickinson and Felix Organ.  Too early to say for all three how they will go but they will need to make sure they grab with both hands any opportunities that come along.

A mention for Will Smith who left for a second spell with Durham, he spent the summer in the seconds and despite scoring heavily never featured in the Championship.  I wish him well remembering him fondly for his last wicket partnership with James Tomlinson to help Hampshire win promotion in 2014.  Will also proved a useful T20 bowler and captained the side in difficult circumstances in 2016.

Lewis McManus didn’t kick on from his breakthrough season in 2016,  Just 285 runs at 23 from 10 matches was disappointing and whilst he didn’t do much wrong with the gloves I would say he won’t be certain to regain his place at the start of 2018.

Liam Dawson also struggled with the bat but I think perhaps wasn’t helped by moving around the order and that he was in and out of the side due to England commitments.  The good news was that we saw his best season with the ball for some time and he bowled economically. 31 wickets at 26 was a great backup to the seamers. I am disappointed how it turned out with England for Liam as he is far better than the figures showed but the wider criticism certainly didn’t seem to affect him bowling wise.

Kyle Abbott was the undeniable player of the season.  60 wickets at 18.2 and the added bonus of 418 runs at 29 showed him to be worth every penny that it cost to take him away from international cricket.  Abbott made things happen with the ball and Hampshire suddenly had the potency to cause all teams trouble.   7-41 up at Yorkshire to put Hampshire on the way to an unlikely victory as well as 6-20 ultimately in defeat vs Essex were special performances.  Kyle was certainly no rabbit with the bat as he arrived in early 2017 with a first class average just below 17 but certainly showed us of his ability and in digging out Hampshire with the bat as well as the ball it certainly is no exaggeration to say that Hampshire would be heading back to Division 2 without him.

Now whilst Abbott was certainly the figurehead he didn’t go without support and by the end of the season Hampshire found a well balanced attack  and left some supporters including me dreaming about what could have been if this attack had played together more or had some more back up from the batting department.

Gareth Berg bowled well with in partnership with Abbott and 37 wickets at 26 was great support to go with his 568 runs at 31.  Importantly hitting the winning runs in a large chase in the season opener in Leeds and his 34 vs Warwickshire on the last day at Edgbaston helped use up valuable time to gain that 5 points from the draw that ensured survival.  Nobody out there seems to enjoy playing for the club than Gareth and its a pleasure to watch his wholehearted efforts with bat and ball.

Fidel Edwards towards the end of the season came back to be the bowler we saw late in 2015 when he kept Hampshire up with his devastating slingy pace.  Early season injury for the second successive year although this time luckily not season ending like 2016 meant he contributed 30 wickets at 25 .  Cricket tragics like myself love a West Indian quick and as there isn’t much out there like him then I really hope we get to see a firing Edwards next year.

Ian Holland goes down as the find of the season for me.  The US born Australian got a first team opportunity in the One day cup then subsequently the Championship took 19 wickets at 18 to go with 233 runs at 33.  The highlight was with the pink ball against Somerset where he reduced the hosts from 102-1 to 110-5 with four quick wickets and added a runout shortly after.  He conceded just 2.63 runs an over and was that effective fourth seamer that the county have traditionally not had.

I’m really not sure what to make of Mason Crane’s season mainly because it felt like we saw so little of him.  Not selected in April due to conditions then spent time carrying drinks for England so just made 7 Championship appearances taking 16 wickets at 44.  some pundits suggested he move counties to play every game but this seems unlikely that any county would pick him every game especially in April.  You also have to question the value of him carrying drinks when he could have been getting overs under his belt with Hampshire especially if he is to be required in the test team this winter.

Also featured were Matt Salisbury previously of Essex who played in two games with minimal success and he was not seen again. Brad Taylor also got one game up at Old Trafford when Liam Dawson and Mason Crane were unavailable.  Unfortunately he struggled and as a result did not come close to selection again.  He is spending some of the winter in New Zealand to help his development and shows there still is a future for him at the club.

Brad Wheal and Reece Topley had injury hit summers playing four and two games respectively.  Reece did at least get to bowl this summer and played more games than last year but that will be little consolation to him as his season was ended with a stress fracture of the back for the second successive year.  Both bowlers will be useful next year and I hope that they can both overcome injuries as Hampshire are assembling a title winning unit.

Frustration that it nearly ended in tears for Hampshire on the last day.  In early August Hampshire played Lancashire when thoughts were definitely about looking up the table.  It would have been a travesty if Hampshire had gone down as they only spent about four hours of the season in the bottom two but those nearly were the wrong few hours to be in the relegation zone.  There were plenty of highs and plenty of lows often within sessions of each other.  Bowling Champions Essex out for 76 then being bowled out for the same score two days later to lose after enforcing the follow on the best example of highs to lows.

The problems are obvious in that the batting just doesn’t back up the bowling often enough.  However the solutions are a lot harder to identify, Hampshire were not the only county to struggle with batting in 2017.  A glance at the Div 1 averages or the fact that England have been unable to find a settled batting lineup tells you a lot about the state of batting in county cricket at present.  Hampshire do need to strengthen this area but from where is not at all obvious.  Overseas players unless you can get a Sangakarra might not help often due to availability as much as anything.  Kolpaks can work but again its an unpopular step and as with Roussow no guarantee of success. Signing from other counties is also not necessarily a good plan given how other counties are also struggling with batting.  The youth route also has issues in the modern game, are the players there ready or good enough and once players are selected can you afford to give them enough games if they don’t hit the ground running straight away?

Its a tough one and I’m glad I’m not in Giles or Craig White’s position as there are some very difficult decisions to be made this winter regarding the batting.   I am relieved we survived for another year and the bowling excites me that we will spend the 2018 season looking up rather than down and we show the rest of the public that we deserve to be in the first on merit.

Pakistan v England

The first part of a tough winter starts tomorrow in Abu Dhabi.  England will be up against it as visiting teams in test series have won no more than one test since Pakistan started playing in the UAE regularly.

My fears are the batting might struggle against spin and we are in danger of becoming too reliant on Joe Root.  If he fails then England tend to fail.  The other concern is the bowling may lack cutting edge if the pitch doesn’t offer much assistance.  However I think England will win at least one test out here and if they can win more than one then they will have done very well.

If pressed for a series score I am going to go for 2-1 to Pakistan with a saver bet on a 1-1 draw.

End of Season Review

Well it’s all over and Hampshire did it.  They gained that seventh place and the chance to play again next year in the top division.  It wasn’t easy and at times it was desperate but the end result is what matters.

Mistakes were made in player recruitment and the team selection regularly had the supporters scratching their heads but it turned out all right in the end.  I hope that lessons will be learned from this campaign and if Hampshire can hit the ground running then there is a lot to be optimistic about.

Gareth Berg was named player of the season as he performed in every game of the season.  I voted for him as well but am wondering if perhaps Fidel Edwards should have took the title.  45 Wickets in 8 games kept us up and you could argue that without him Hampshire would have been winless in the championship.  Fidel will be back next year and with Topley joining from Essex then hopefully sights can be set higher up the table.

In the 50 over cup there was improvement from last years bottom placed group stage exit and they were knocked out by eventual winners Gloucestershire in a quarter final at Bristol.

T20 was quite similar to last year.  Some dismal defeats halfway through the group stage, finding form towards the end of it followed by another finals day at Edgbaston.  Unfortunately Finals day was dreadful and Hampshire limped out against eventual winners Lancashire.  Like last year Hampshire are a decent T20 side who will win more games than they lose but probably lacking that extra bit of quality to lift the cup.

I didn’t get to as much cricket as last year and what I did see was often hard work such as the three defeats in a row mid summer vs Somerset, Middlesex and Worcs but here below is a list of best moments and best players that I saw.  You might have seen better but these are when I was there actually watching it apart from my best moment.

Best Moment: LIstening to the radio when the tenth Sussex wicket fell at Headingley

Worst Moment: Day Two at New Road

Best innings: Liam Dawson 140 v Yorkshire

Best Bowling: Fidel Edwards

Best Batsman Michael Carberry

Best Bowler Fidel Edwards

Best Signing: Fidel Edwards

Best Opposition: Batsman Alex Hales

Best Opposition: Bowler Chris Rushworth

Best Away Ground: Lords

Best one day innings: James Vince vs Sussex in RLODC

Best Cricket Coverage: Southampton HBA

Best cricket site: Cricinfo

Best Pub: Y Mochyn Du, Cardiff

Best Turnaround Hampshire

Best Team: Hampshire

Best Team: (Not Hampshire) Yorkshire

Middlesex v Hampshire

A special few days as this was the first time we had ever watched cricket from the pavilion at Lords.  We got a taste of what it was like to be a member of the MCC and it is something that all cricket fans should do at least once in their lives.

The match didn’t go well for Hampshire as they lost the toss and were inserted by Middlesex with Murtagh, Harris and Roland-Jones dismissing Hampshire for 176.  Hampshire toiled well on day two with 18 year old Brad Wheal impressing however they never recovered from day one and Middlesex completed a comfortable nine wicket win.

A lovely few days here and I am glad we did this as it might be some time again before Hampshire play at the Home of Cricket.  Do it if you can!

An Update

I have been to a lot of cricket since we last posted.  Some has been excellent, The Ashes in Cardif whereas some has been awful such as the visit to Worcestershire by Hampshire.  I will post these over the coming days.

The Ashes has been a topsy turvy affair with both teams playing good and bad cricket at times and at the time of writing it is 2-1 to England.  If the sequence continues then we will see England secure the series 3-2 at the Oval where Claire and I have tickets.

Hampshire have continued their struggles in the County Championship although brought an end to a run of defeats with a superb rearguard action by youngsters Mason Crane and Lewis McManus to secure a draw with Durham.  They have to believe that those extra five points gained will be vital at the end of the season.  There are hard games left but now that Fidel Edwards has returned from the Carribean and Jackson Bird is starting to be the bowler we hoped he would be then survival could still be achieved.

In T20 cricket despite a poor run, qualification for the knockout stages was gained for the seventh year in a row and the opportunity to make six finals days in a row awaits with a trip to Worcester.  As Hampshire needed to win their last two group games they may have an advantage going into the knockout stages as they have already been playing knockout cricket already. Maybe the pressure of this is what Hampshire need to succeed.

What may also help Hampshire in T20 is that they have started the 50 over campaign in decent form and hopefully the form will transfer across both formats.  I thoroughly enjoyed last Mondays win over Sussex.  This combined with a demolishing of Middlesex and played well at Glamorgan despite coming away with just one point after an abandonment due to a dangerous pitch means that the 50 over competition is already more successful than last year.  Two games this week against Warwickshire and Essex means we will have a good idea if we will progress before the format takes a break for a little while by then.

It is good that we are into the start of August already and there is still so much to look forward to for England and Hampshire for the rest of the season.

Essex v Hampshire T20

My first visit to Chelmsford and on the pitch it was not a happy experience for me or Hampshire as Essex inflicted a record defeat.

It started badly with James Vince choosing to send Essex into bat and didn’t get any better as Mark Pettini and Jesse Ryder shared a century opening stand.  Pettini went for 74 and the rest of the Essex batsmen only managed single figures but Ryder kept blazing away reaching his first T20 Hundred with a six.  Essex set 212 to win which could have been more but a near impossible chase was made impossible as soon as the 3rd over of the reply with Hampshire 21-3.  This later turned into 66-7 and finally were all out for 134.

The victory margin was 78 runs and I cannot think of a single positive thing to come out of this game.   Back to the grind of the Championship this week with a trip to Lords and hopefully this game was a blip.  Last season we had some poor performances in this comp but still managed to finish with a flourish making it to Finals Day.

Middlesex v Worcs

Due to me fearing that Hampshire would not last the day against Somerset I decided to get some exercise and take a cycle along the Grand Union Canal to Uxbridge.  It turns out that Middlesex and Worcs are Hampshire’s next two opponents so it was interesting to watch and perhaps get some pointers as too how our next two games might go.

As I joined the game at tea Middlesex were batting and were in arrears to Worcs after conceding a first innings lead.

Saeed Ajmal soon got Nick Gubbins whilst Nick Compton not long after edged Jack Shantry to the slips and at 73-3 Middlesex were still behind and a possibility of a Worcs victory was on the cards.  Aussie Joe Burns and Paul Stirling saw them through to the close with little alarm and they finished on 140-3.

The game ended in a draw and I think that Worcs  with Ajmal in the ranks possibly should have won this.  Hopefully Hampshire can take advantage of their lack of cutting edge whilst Middlesex were not spectacular but made sure of a draw.

Hampshire v Somerset Day Two

A delayed start and a really dismal day in the end for Hampshire.   It started promisingly as the Somerset tail only managed to add 36 runs to their overnight score and this gave me false hope of a lead as we often struggle to dismiss the tail quickly.

Unfortunately the Hampshire innings unraveled quickly with excellent new ball bowling from Alfonso Thomas backed up by Craig Overton.  Nobody really made a score of any note apart from perhaps Gareth Berg who impresses more and more with each game.  Hampshire were all out for 147 and Somerset took the only option available with 14 overs left in the day to ask Hampshire to have another go with the bat.

Sean Terry and Jimmy Adams failed to see out those overs and it meant that defeat arrived late on day three despite more brave fighting cricket from Gareth Berg.

Other results mean we slip into the bottom two again.  An important fortnight starts now as we play away at Middlesex followed by fellow strugglers Worcestershire.

Middlesex v Hampshire T20

A lovely evening at the Home of Cricket and the first time I had ever watched Hampshire at Lords apart from in a cup final.

Hampshire won the toss and batted first.   Carberry and Shah scored the bulk of the runs and I am pretty sure for the first time live I saw somebody dismissed hit wicket.  Shah hit the ball into the Grandstand but whilst doing so had slid his foot back and trod on his stumps.

Hampshire reached 199 and I was pretty confident at halfway struggling Middlesex would not be able to chase it down.  Paul Stirling looked dangerous and after ten overs it looked like they had a chance but going at ten an over all innings is difficult.  The pressure got to Middlesex as Hampshire took regular wickets and they ended up 22 runs short of the target.