Hampshire County Cricket Club

Infobox cricket team
county = Hampshire County Cricket Club


oneday = Hampshire Hawks
coach = flagicon|England Giles White
captain = flagicon|England Dimitri Mascarenhas
overseas1 = flagicon|New Zealand Shane Bond
flagicon|Australia Ian Harvey "(T20 only)"
founded = 1863
ground = Rose Bowl
capacity = 22,000
fcdebutvs = Sussex
fcdebutyr = 1864
fcdebutvenue = Antelope Ground, Southampton
title1 = Championship
title1wins = 2
title2 = Pro40
title2wins = 3
title3 = FP Trophy
title3wins = 2
title4 = Twenty20 Cup
title4wins = 0
website = [http://www.hampshirecricket.com HampshireCricket]

Hampshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Hampshire. Its limited overs team is called the Hampshire Hawks. Their kit colours are yellow with blue sleeves and the shirt sponsor is Powells.

The club plays all of its home games at the Rose Bowl, newly built in 2001 and located at West End, near Southampton. Hampshire was previously based at the County Ground, Northlands Road, Southampton, which had been its home since 1885. The team had also played many matches in Portsmouth and Bournemouth and occasional games in Basingstoke and Cowes before moving all competitive matches to the Rose Bowl.

Hampshire is currently in Division One of the County Championship. Its most recent success was on 3 September 2005 when it won the C&G Trophy by 18 runs, including a century from Zimbabwean Sean Ervine, against Warwickshire.

Honours

* County Championship (2) - 1961, 1973
* Gillette/NatWest/C&G/Friends Provident Trophy (2) - 1991, 2005
* Sunday/National League (3) - 1975, 1978, 1986
* Twenty20 Cup (0) -
* Benson & Hedges Cup (2) - 1988, 1992

econd XI honours

* Second XI Championship (5) - 1967, 1971, 1981, 1995, 2001; shared (0) -
* Second XI Trophy (1) - 2003
* Minor Counties Championship (0) - ; shared (0) -

Records

Most first-class runs for Hampshire
Qualification - 20000 runs [http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Records/England/Firstclass/Hampshire/Batting_Records/Most_Career_Runs.html]

The Rose Bowl

One reason for building the new Rose Bowl ground was to attract international cricket to the south coast of England. England has traditionally had six grounds where Test and ODI cricket has been played: The Oval, Lord's, Trent Bridge, Edgbaston, Old Trafford and Headingley. Durham was the first of the other centres to put forward a claim for international status, building the Riverside Ground in Chester-le-Street, which has played host to Test matches between England and Zimbabwe in 2003, and England and Bangladesh in 2005.

Amongst this competitive background, as part of a four year staging agreement the Rose Bowl hosted a One Day International between South Africa and Zimbabwe in 2003. It was scheduled to play host to a one-dayer between the West Indies and New Zealand in 2004, but this was called off because of rain.

The Rose Bowl was also selected as one of three venues to host five matches in the ICC Champions Trophy in September 2004, along with The Oval and Edgbaston. Five fixtures were played there. It hosted England's first twenty20 International, played against Australia in 2005.

The ground is also used occasionally for concerts, for example hosting Oasis in July 2005 and Billy Joel a year later.

The Rose Bowl hosted the 2008 finals of the Twenty20 Cup. Middlesex Crusaders won the final against the Kent Spitfires, after beating the Durham Dynamos in the semi final. It was a great event and the finals day at the Rose Bowl has further promoted the reputation of the ground in its push to host big international events.

Hampshire Facts and Feats

*Hampshire won one of the most remarkable victories in County Championship history when 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.

*Fast-medium bowlers Alec Kennedy and Jack Newman carried Hampshire's attack in the early twenties, both achieving the double five times. In 1921 and 1923 they bowled together through entire matches unchanged. In 1922 Newman was sent off the field at Trent Bridge by Hampshire captain the Hon. L.H. Tennyson after kicking the stumps down in a fit of pique. His captain ticked him off in the dressing room, accepted his apology and gave him one pound.

*Dick Moore set the individual scoring record for Hampshire against Worcestershire at Bournemouth in 1937. His chanceless 316 took just 380 minutes and contained 43 fours and 3 sixes.

References

External sources

* [http://www.hampshirecricket.com/ Official website]
* [http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Hampshire/index.html Cricket Archive - Lists of numerous club records & scorecards]

Further reading

*Dave Allen, "Entertain or Perish: Hampshire County Cricket 1946-2006, Phillimore, 2007
* H S Altham, "A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914)", George Allen & Unwin, 1962
* Derek Birley, "A Social History of English Cricket", Aurum, 1999
* Rowland Bowen, "Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development", Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1970
* Roy Webber, "The Playfair Book of Cricket Records", Playfair Books, 1951

* Playfair Cricket Annual – various editions
* Wisden Cricketers Almanack – various editions