Hampshire Ties
On this page, we want to feature certain ties in the Hampshire Cricket Archive Collection. We want to highlight the events or players that were the reason for them being sold to Hampshire supporters at the time when they were first issued. Our Tie Collection now numbers over 1o0 and we are constantly on the lookout for new acquisitions to our collection. If you have any older ties produced by (or linked to) Hampshire County Cricket Club which are spare, please get in touch at hantscccheritage@gmail.com to let us know. Conversely, we have a number of spares which will be on sale at our two Book Sales each summer in the Club Shop. We start off our section on ties with Hampshire's historic first ever appearance at Lord's in a one-day domestic Cup Final.
Benson and Hedges Final
9th July 1988
Hants beat Derbyshire by 7 wickets
Nat West Trophy Final
7th September 1991
Hants beat Surrey by 4 wickets
Benson and Hedges Final
11th/12th July 1992
Hants won by 41 runs
Hampshire 1988 Benson and Hedges Cup Winners Tie
Benson Hedges Cup Final
Hampshire v Derbyshire
Lord’s on Saturday July 7th 1988.
Shortly after 5 O’Clock on Saturday July 7th 1988 in St John’s Wood, Mark Nicholas held the Benson and Hedges Trophy aloft to the joyous Hampshire supporters who had made their way on to the hallowed turf in front of the famous old pavilion. Victory by 7 wickets, turbo-charged by a Robin Smith mini masterclass, after Steven Jefferies had taken 5-13 earlier that morning, meant Hampshire recorded the quickest victory in any final in the history of the competition.
More poignant was the fact the last of the traditional 17 counties - who were competing in one day cup competitions in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s - had finally made it to a Lord’s Final. It was eventually a stroll in the park in the Final, in stark contrast to the travails of previous years. Hampshire had previously lost 6 semi-finals in the Gillette Cup (or Nat West Trophy) and the Benson and Hedges Cup, before eventually beating Essex at Chelmsford to reach this Final in 1988.
This tie marks that first ever One Day Final win for the Club.
Captain Nicholas was 35 not out at the end, partnered by David Turner who, along with Nigel Cowley (who went for just 17 runs in his 11 overs) had been involved 13 years earlier when Hampshire won their first ever John Player League Title at Darley Dale. This was again against Derbyshire and was also a game shown on tv in early September 1975.
The fact that nether Barry Richards nor Gordon Greenidge from that great side ever graced a Lord’s domestic one-day cup final was cricket’s loss as much as it was a sadness for all Hampshire supporters who followed that great team of the seventies.
In this 1988 Final, Gold Award Winner, Steven Jefferies, with his left arm swing from over the wicket, proved a real handful on the day. Captain Nicholas also snapped up two important catches at bat pad under the helmet as Derbyshire tumbled from 27-0 to 32-4.
Robin Smith hit 38 off just 27 balls, as Hampshire raced to chase down just 118 to win.
Robin also took a truly brilliant running catch to dismiss Goldsmith down at the Nursery End. It was to be the start of him stepping into the international arena; a tv audience that day saw a taste of that vicious trade mark square cut against Michael Holding which made him go on to be a stand out Test player against the best attacks in the world in the late eighties and early nineties.
For Hampshire, that 1988 Final marked the start of three victories in four years in Lord’s Finals. They went on to beat Surrey in the 1991 Nat West Final and then Kent in the 1992 Benson and Hedges Cup Final. Robin Smith made important and typically attractive runs in both of those two games as well. Two other blue ties were issued by the club to mark these triumphs and both are also in our HCH Collection.