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 1960’s

Match Number Three

I remember the importance of the game and the celebrations afterwards

1961 Hampshire v Derbyshire at Bournemouth

Result: Hampshire won by 140 runs

An interview with Martin Harrison

What do you remember of your favourite game, Martin where your Dad was obviously a key member of the Hampshire side?

It has to be that unbelievable game in late August when Hampshire won their first ever title. It was the 1st September 1961 at Bournemouth against Derbyshire. It was my Dad’s favourite game. I was obviously young at the time and remember the importance of the game and the celebrations afterwards. We were lucky enough to be up on the balcony. We always used to be with Rory Marshall’s children playing at the games back then, often while the cricket was going on. We would spend hours at the ground just playing outside and spending time with all the players. We also loved the charity games as children. The players and families always mixed so well. Bournemouth was always such a special ground for us. It was the nearest ground to our family home in Mudeford. Dad built the house with his dad from money he earned from his Benefit year. He lived virtually all his life right up until his death in 2016. He was 94 when he died and always loved Mudeford. He was born there in 1922 when it was in Hampshire. He later lived next door to his sisters. The club tried to get him to move to Southampton to be nearer Northlands Road, but Mudeford was always our home. John Arlott was a great family friend. Dad would visit him in Alderney. Bournemouth then was our home ground, and it was where Dad made his debut for Hampshire before the Second World War in August 1939. He was picked as a batsman, because Neil McCorkell kept wicket. That Hampshire team was captained by Gules Baring. Dad batted in the middle order with Sam Pothecary, who started playing for Hampshire in the 1920’s, and the off-spinner Gerry Hill. Then, of course, war broke out and Dad served in the RAF. The huge problem was his eye-sight was failing. He failed the test to become a pilot. He played all his cricket after the war with his eyesight problems.

It must have been so hard for your Dad trying to cope with all of those challenges. Just how difficult was it for him?

His cricket was his life and he managed to play from 1946 right through until 1962. His batting was most affected by his failing eyesight. He took over from Neil and then kept wicket for 10 years. He was so proud and pleased to be a part of that special first Championship-winning team. He loved standing up to Derek Shackleton. We were a fine bowling side with Derek, Butch White, Vic Cannings and Peter Sainsbury in the late 50’s. After that, he stayed with Hampshire as a coach for nearly ten years. He saw the arrival of Barry Richards. I was out in South Africa and we played our part in bringing Barry to Hampshire when there was a chance to bring an overseas player in for the first time in early 1968. Both John (Arlott) and Dad always loved watching him bat for their Hampshire team. He was certainly the best batsman both Dad and I have ever seen. In that Derbyshire game at Bournemouth when we won the Championship, Dad made valuable runs in the first innings. It was his favourite game because of what it all meant to the club. He always talked about Happy Hampshire and the fact the team had been together for so long. Colin Ingelby-Mackenzie was a great friend; Dad was the only person who would travel in the same car as him to away games. He used to drive so fast and lived his whole life to the full. Dad always said he was a great captain. 

Have you any other memories of watching games in that 1961 campaign?

I have fond memories of that game at Portsmouth a few weeks earlier, at the start of August, against Sussex when Butch White took a hat-trick. It was in the second innings. Butch took four wickets in five balls. Jim Parks was one of the wickets and Dad caught Ian Thomson first ball. It left Dexter stranded; we won by 5 wickets and that was another win that summer. There were wins against Derbyshire away and against Warwickshire at Southampton, when Dad chipped in with important 30’s. He had been such a good batsman before his eyesight problems. His highest score was 153, again made at Bournemouth in 1952. That was another season he made 1,000 runs for Hampshire. Before he was keeping, he made 6 centuries. He knew he contributed both as a wicket-keeper and batsman in that Championship season. That gave him so much pleasure. I loved the fact I saw him play on the day Hampshire truly made cricketing history. He actually came back and played another game  in 1966. There was an injury crisis and Dad was still regularly keeping, so he played against Surrey at Basingstoke aged 43. When you think, he played pre-war, it gives you an idea of Dad’s appetite and dedication for playing cricket for Hampshire.

Footnotes by Dave Allen

In 1961, approaching the centenary of the establishment of the County Club and two hundred years since the great achievements of the men of Hambledon, Hampshire won county cricket’s greatest prize, the County Championship, for the first time. By the end of that decade there would be three annual prizes and soon a fourth, while other changes shifted control from the two dominant post-war sides, the ‘giants’ of Surrey and Yorkshire. It is perhaps difficult at this distance to recognise what a remarkable achievement Hampshire’s success was in 1961. If we date the ‘modern’ Championship from 1890, we find that over the 61 seasons to 1960 (ten lost to wars) Yorkshire won 24; Surrey won 14 and both had one more shared title, as did Lancashire who won seven outright up to 1934. Middlesex won four and one more shared, Kent four, all before 1914, Nottinghamshire two, Warwickshire won in 1911 and again 40 years later, while Derbyshire (1936) and Glamorgan (1948) had been as surprising as Hampshire in 1961.

In May 1961 then, eight sides had never won a trophy - including Hampshire - who began the season winning three of their first five games and were the first side to prevent a Yorkshire victory, although that draw was sandwiched by two defeats. Hampshire then won six-in-a-row and while pursued throughout by Yorkshire and Middlesex they came to their penultimate game against Derbyshire at Bournemouth knowing that if they won, or Yorkshire failed to beat Warwickshire, they would be Champions. In the event both occurred, although for two days Derbyshire matched them. Winning the toss, Hampshire batted first on a pitch offering little obvious help to bowlers. According to match reports, the early stages were shaped by determined batting from Roy Marshall and Jimmy Gray. Marshall struck a fluent 76 while Gray added 78, the pair giving Hampshire the foundation of a competitive total with 120 for the first wicket. Further useful contributions came from captain Colin Ingleby-Mackenzie (30) and then wicketkeeper Leo Harrison, whose 35 was praised in local press summaries as a “ very useful lower-order innings.” Hampshire were eventually dismissed for 306. 

Derbyshire, in reply, took a first innings lead of 6 runs, thanks in the main to Laurie Johnson’s 106 and 89 from Billy Oates. Very handily placed at 212-2, they subsided to 318 all out. Derek Shackleton struck with three wickets, while Alan Waddell took 5-132. Then on Friday 1 September, Hampshire played throughout like Champions. Roy Marshall led the way with 86, two Hampshire men, Sainsbury (73) and Barnard (61) added 99 in just over an hour, and Ingleby-Mackenzie was able to declare setting Derbyshire 252 to win in three-and-a-quarter hours. The declaration was widely described in the press as the act of a captain determined to seize the Championship, rather than drift toward a draw. It proved decisive. The great Derek Shackleton immediately got to work, as on a pitch offering little help to the bowlers, he reduced Derbyshire to 52-8 (two for Alan Wassell). Shackleton finished with 6-39 and after a ninth wicket stand that doubled the score, Sainsbury took the last two quickly and the title was Hampshire’s. The decisive moment came shortly after four o’clock. A catch by Danny Livingstone to dismiss Bob Taylor ended the innings; it confirmed what Hampshire supporters at Bournemouth had scarcely dared to imagine at the start of the season: their county were champions of England for the first time. Happy Hampshire were winners by 140 runs. 

John Arlott wrote in the 1962 Handbook that “it was not only the peak season of most of the players but also the fruition of a studied team-building programme which the Committee – particularly Harry Altham and Cecil Paris – and Desmond Eagar carried out on a meagre budget … The result was a team deep in run-making power, soundly equipped at all points of attack and in which every man was worth his place – a true Championship side”. In the same publication, Desmond Eagar wrote that after his 16 years at the club “we can rejoice that all the hopes and dreams of these post-war years have come true at last”.

Reigning Champions Yorkshire used 21 players in the 1961 Championship, all of them born within the county, and they supplied players from within their borders to other county sides including WF Oates, GE Barker, D Shackleton, P Lever, W Watson, HD Bird, D Bennett, and WE Rhodes. Hampshire could not match that level of home-grown players but the other strand of their side consisted of the men born within the county and developed by Hampshire. From Southampton came opening bat and medium-pace bowler Jimmy Gray, left-arm spinning all-rounder Peter Sainsbury and off-spinner Mervyn Burden; from the Bournemouth area there was wicket-keeper and pre-war debutant Leo Harrison, and pace bowler Malcolm Heath, while from the east, around Portsmouth there was the young slow-left-arm bowler Alan Wassell and middle-order batsman Mike Barnard, who had recently retired after a some seasons playing for his native Portsmouth FC in the top division. There were other footballers on the staff – defender Horton had returned to cricket after signing for Southampton FC and moving south, while Jimmy Gray, once on Arsenal’s books played in the Southern League with Bedford Town, and among the promising younger players, batsman Bernard Harrison had spells at Crystal Palace and Southampton. The other youngsters were reserve wicketkeeper Bryan Timms who covered an injury to Leo Harrison in three games, and two who played only against Oxford University, leg-spinner Alan Castell and all-rounder Bob Caple.

Hampshire won 19 matches, the highest number in their history and despite the myths about the captain’s declarations, 15 were won by taking 20 wickets, one more with 19 and only three against declarations. At the Oval, because of an experimental rule, Surrey could not enforce the follow-on, at Cowes, Essex set a target not least because Marshall was injured and at Portsmouth Hampshire won a thrilling finish against Gloucestershire after rain cost the whole of the second day. Overall Hampshire lost just under 40 hours to rain in 32 matches. Marshall, Gray and Horton all passed 2,000 runs, while Livingstone, Sainsbury, Barnard, Baldry and the captain brought a new stability to the middle order. Marshall’s 212 v Somerset at Bournemouth was Hampshire’s first double century for a decade. Against the same opponents at Frome, Burden took 8-38 and 12 wickets in the match.

Shackleton passed 150 wickets, White 100 and Burden, Wassell, Heath and Sainsbury over 50 each. 14 men formed the essential Championship-winning side with Baldry and Barnard competing for one batting slot and Burden, Heath and Wassell offering bowling options. Leo Harrison suffered an injury which gave opportunities to Timms before the captain had a spell keeping wicket. Bernard Harrison deputised when Marshall was injured and scored his first century in first-class cricket v Oxford University at Portsmouth. ‘Butch’ White contributed significantly to two important victories at Portsmouth, first in that match v Gloucestershire with big hitting in the final overs and then v Sussex in the second match of the August Portsmouth week. Very late on the second evening Sussex, who had trailed by 38, were 179-4 in their second innings. In gloomy weather White then took a hat-trick and four in the over (plus a dropped catch denying him a county record four in four). Sussex added just one leg bye on Friday morning and Hampshire won easily.

The contribution of Leo Harrison to Hampshire County Cricket Club is perhaps best measured not only in victories, but in the culture, he helped shape. Clearly a quiet, thoughtful cricketer in his playing days, Harrison became just as valuable to Hampshire as a coach and mentor: a custodian of the game’s values. For the best part of nearly a decade guiding the first team, Harrison oversaw one of the most successful periods in the club’s modern history, including multiple limited-overs triumphs and the development of players who would go on to play with great distinction for the special county that was his life. 

HAMPSHIRE v DERBYSHIRE

County Championship

Chosen by Martin Harrison

30, 31 August, 1 September 1961 at Dean Park, Bournemouth                     Hampshire won by 140 runs

Toss  Hampshire

HAMPSHIRE

                                 First innings                                       Second innings

RE Marshall               c Lee b Smith               76               c Lee b Morgan                         86

JR Gray                     run out                        78               b Rhodes                               4

H Horton                   c Taylor b Jackson         13               lbw b Rhodes                          0

DA Livingstone           c Lee b Smith             7               c Johnson b Smith                     11

PJ Sainsbury               c Rhodes b Smith         1               c Lee b Smith                           73

HM Barnard               c Rhodes b Morgan        19               c Taylor b Smith                        61

ACD Ingleby-Mackenzie  b Richardson                30               st Taylor b Smith                     5

+L Harrison                lbw b Morgan               35               b Jackson                               0

AR Wassell                c Taylor b Jackson         13

D Shackleton              not out                         27               not out                                   2

DW White                  b Morgan                   0   (9)    not out                                     13

Extras                       b 1, lb 4, w 1, nb 1           7               b 4, lb 3, w 1                          8

Total                         113.3 overs                 306               8 wickets dec. 88 overs             263

FOW: 1st inns  1-120, 2-145, 3-160, 4-166, 5-182, 6-229, 7-230, 8-256, 9-304, 10-306.

         2nd inns  1-8, 2-16, 3-40, 4-141, 5-240, 6-247, 7-248, 8-250

Derbyshire bowling: (First innings) Jackson 24-9-44-2, Rhodes 22-4-48-0, Richardson 11-1-35-1, Lee 8-2-30-0, Morgan 20.3-3-79-3, Smith 28-8-63-3. (Second innings) Jackson 14-5-25-1, Rhodes 15-8-19-2, Richardson

9-2-34-0,Morgan 21-5-59-1, Smith 25-3-87-4. Oates 2-0-18-0, Gibson 2-0-13-0.

DEBYSHIRE

                                 First innings                                       Second innings

C Lee                        run out                      5               c Harrison b Shackleton            4

I Gibson                    b Sainsbury                  46               lbw b Shackleton                     3

HL Johnson                c Gray b Wassell         112               b Shackleton                             14

WF Oates                   c Harrison b Shackleton   89               b Shackleton                           2

D Milner                    b Shackleton                 14               c&b Wassell                             17

DC Morgan                b Wassell                     13               c Gray b Wassell                     3

E Smith                     c Barnard b Shackleton 0               b Shackleton                           9

*GW Richardson         c Horton b Wassell           6               b Shackleton                           0

+RW Taylor                not out                         12               c Livingstone b Sainsbury           48

HJ Rhodes                 b Wassell                   9               c&b Sainsbury                          11

HL Jackson    c Ingleby-Mackenzie b Wassell      4               not out                                   0

Extras                       b 4, lb 4                     8                                                               0

Total                         112.1 overs                 318               54.2 overs                              111

FOW:    1st inns   1-9, 2-102, 3-212, 4-248, 5-273, 6-274, 7-285, 8-297, 9-314, 10-318.

         2nd inns  1-4, 2-17, 3-23, 4-24, 5-35, 6-48, 7-52, 8-52, 9-104, 10-111.

Hampshire bowling: (First innings) Shackleton 39-15-70-3, White 10-3-22-0, Gray 7-2-19-0, Wassell

42.1-13-132-5, Sainsbury 14-3-67-1. (Second innings) Shackleton 24-10-39-6, White 3-1-5-0, Wassell

24-10-62-2, Sainsbury 3.2-0-5-2.

Umpires:        AEG Rhodes and H Yarnold

COP: (1)    Hampshire 306, Derbyshire 23-1

         (2)    Hampshire 306 & 125-3, Derbyshire 318

John Arlott wrote of Martin Harrison’s father, Leo, “he is wise in cricket and shrewd about people.”

Match Number Four

When Yorkshire were 8-6, I didn’t think they would make 23!

1965 Yorkshire v Hampshire at Middlesbrough

Result: Hampshire won by 10 wickets

An interview with Brian Timms

In the six full seasons you played, after Leo Harrison retired up until 1968, which was your favourite game?

That is really easy to answer. It has to be the remarkable game we played up at Middlesbrough early in the 1965 season. It was against a very good Yorkshire side that had Boycott, Hampshire and Close in the top four. It was nearly all side that Yorkshire team who were County Champions in 1966, 1967 and 1968.

What sort of record did you have against Yorkshire back then?

We lost heavily at Portsmouth in 1964 when Jack Hampshire made a century in their first innings, and I think it was Hutton skittled us second time round. However, I do remember winning at Headingley in 1963. That was the game where Peter Sainsbury took seven wickets in their first innings ,and they collapsed from about 110-3 to 180 odd all out. We declared leaving them 270 to get, but they never got close. We won by 130 runs. That said, winning against Yorkshire - particularly away - was always a real challenge.

Was it a trip up part of the M1 in 1965 for your favourite game?

We had just finished or first home of the season, and so we left to get the overnight sleeper to Darlington. With none of the Yorkshire players involved in the Tests that early in the season, they were virtually at full strength. They batted first and I remember Shack soon bowled Boycott. They were 40-6 in no time on a testing wicket. It was only Trueman, funnily enough, whom I remember making any runs. He ended up with a fifty, but they only made 121. Derek Shackleton was always a joy to keep wicket to with his immaculate control of length and line. I am pretty sure he claimed at least 6 first time round. Bob Cottam got the other 4 and poor ‘Butch’ went wicketless, although he gave them nothing either, as usual. The three of them together were a real handful on that wicket and we knew it would not be easy.

I notice when I checked the scorecard that Boycott bowled in that Hampshire first innings.

I don’t particularly remember Geoff doing much in the game, to be honest. He certainly didn’t keep us waiting out there in the middle in either innings with the bat! Fred Trueman was the big threat: he was always a huge presence on the field and got good support from Nicholson who swung it away on that wicket. The only man who really got in was Roy Marshall. He was such a class attacking batsman. The fifty he made in that game would have been worth far more in easier batting conditions. Roy never any of the quicks dominate him for too long. He was out before I came in at number eight and joined Geoff Keith in the middle. I was really annoyed to get out to Brian Close when I slapped him straight to cover.  Jack Hampshire didn’t have to move. Brian, like Fred, was also a great competitor. He was never short of a word in the middle. Anyway, we finished up only making a few more than Yorkshire on that second morning. I don’t think anyone would have believed what happened after that.

You probably still can’t believe all these years later bowling that Yorkshire team out for 23 second time around?

When they were 8-6, I didn’t think they would get to 23! “Butch” White skittled them; we just caught everything. He only went for 10 runs off his ten overs and picked up six of the top eight. I think there were five ducks, and nobody made double figures. My real memory is of some of the crowd still arriving just lunch and the game was over. We knocked off the 20 we needed to win in just 8 overs, without losing a wicket, and we were soon back on the train heading south.

How aware were you of what you had achieved?

We knew that it was a record that would stand the test of time. It is still their lowest score ever by some way in the County Championship. When we got back to Waterloo, there were people at the station asking us what we were doing and what the scores were. I also distinctly remember reading the headlines on the billboards for the Evening Standard which was “White Stuffs the Tykes!”

Which other games stick out in the memory for you?

There are plenty, but funnily enough another was the early season trip to Yorkshire again in my last season in 1968. The weather was shocking, and the conditions were awful. It was at Harrogate and the second game of our season. It was a green top on a glorified club ground. There were puddles most of the time on the outfield. Trueman, Nicholson, Close, Illingworth and Wilson were all waiting for us out there in the middle. We had heaters on in the dressing room it was that cold. At 5-2, with Trueman seeing off Marshall and Reed, Barry Richards made his way to the middle. In his first game for the club, the week before, he had made 0 at Hove when Snow dismissed him. To be fair, he didn’t lack confidence. For the next couple of hours, I thought I was watching a different game! If any of us had doubted that this guy was something special, we were all now fully paid-up members of the South African’s fan club.

Did you bat with Barry that day?

Yes, I got the best view in the house at the other end as his partner for a while. None of us could stay with him for long sadly. He made the best 70 you could ever imagine, out of our 122, in the toughest of conditions. I think “Sains” managed to get about 18, but nobody else made double figures. I just can’t forget him hitting Illingworth over extra cover against the spin. Simply a different class that day and for the whole of that summer that I shared the dressing room with him. He was also great company off the field as well. The Yorkshire boys and that Harrogate crowd had to acknowledge they had seen something special. I know that Barry was confident he would make two thousand runs that summer, and he managed it. He was simply the best batsman I ever saw play the game, for sure. Uncovered wickets made it a different game back then as well. The greater the challenge, the better Barry seemed to play.

Who were some of the other greats, you remember playing with or against?

Shack and Tom Cartwright were true greats. In my time with Hampshire, Bob Cottam also a great bowler on his day. As for other keepers, ‘Knotty” was my hero. Bob Taylor, and Jack Russell have been other favourites over the years. In the modern era, I can’t look further for a batsman than Yorkshire’s Joe Root. He is truly great to watch at the crease; he would have been a special player in any era.  

YORKSHIRE v HAMPSHIRE

County Championship

Chosen by Brian Timms

19, 20 May 1965 at Acklam Park, Middlesbrough                                Hampshire won by 10 wickets

Toss not known

YORKSHIRE

                                 First innings                                                   Second innings

G Boycott                  b Shackleton                           0               lbw b White                5

JH Hampshire             c Horton b Shackleton                10               c Keith b Shackleton    2

DEV Padgett              lbw b Cottam                            12   (4)    c Keith b Shackleton        0

*DB Close                 b Shackleton                           2   (5)    c Barnard b White       1

PJ Sharpe                   c Horton b Cottam                   9   (6)    c Sainsbury b White         1

R Illingworth              b Cottam                                3   (7)    b White                     0

RA Hutton                 c Timms b Shackleton                22   (8)    c Barnard b White       0

+JG Binks                  c Sainsbury b Shackleton              3   (3)    c Keith b White           0

FS Trueman                c Marshall b Shackleton              55               lbw b Cottam              3

D Wilson                   b Cottam                                0               not out                       7

AG Nicholson             not out                                   2               c Livingstone b Cottam 0

Extras                       nb 3                                      3               b 4                            4

Total                         44.5 overs                              121               20.4 overs                    23

FOW: 1st inns  1-9, 2-14, 3-16, 4-34, 5-37, 6-40, 7-47, 8-113, 9-115, 10-121.

         2nd inns  1-7. 2-7, 3-7, 4-7, 5-8, 6-8, 7-12, 8-13, 9-23, 10-23.

Hampshire bowling: (First innings) Shackleton 22.5-10-64-6, White 7-4-9-0, Cottam 15-3-45-4. (Second innings) Shackleton 9-5-7-2, White 10-7-10-6, Cottam 1.4-0-2-2.

HAMPSHIRE

                                 First innings                                                   Second innings

RE Marshall               b Hutton                                  51               not out                         10

HM Barnard               c&b Trueman                            19               not out                       6

H Horton                   c Binks b Nicholson                 1

DA Livingstone           run out                                  2

PJ Sainsbury               c Padgett b Hutton                     11

*ACD Ingleby-Mackenzie         c Sharpe b Hutton            6

GL Keith                   not out                                     17

+BSV Timms              c Hampshire b Close                3

D Shackleton              b Close                                  0

DW White                  b Nicholson                            6

RMH Cottam              b Trueman                              0

Extras                       b 4, lb 3, nb 2                          9               b 4                            4

Total                         49.2 overs                              125               no wickets, 8 overs        20

FOW: 1st inns  1-27, 2-29, 3-31, 4-86, 5-91, 6-100, 7-118, 8-118, 9-124, 10-125

Yorkshire bowling: (First innings) Trueman 9.2-2-15-2, Nicholson 18-3-59-2, Hutton 16-5-33-3, Boycott

5-2-5-0, Close 1-0-4-2. (Second innings) Trueman 4-2-3-0, Nicholson 4-0-13-0.

Umpires:        FC Gardner and AED Smith

COP: (1)    Yorkshire 121 and 7-2, Hampshire 125.

Brian Timms claimed 347 catches and 47 stumpings for Hampshire in his 188 appearances in the County Championship.

Match Number Five

Though Bob and I were on opposite teams that day, we still play golf together 60 years later  

1967 Hampshire v Middlesex at Portsmouth

Result: Tie

An interview with Keith Wheatley

What would be your Hampshire favourite game Keith in the five years you played between 1965 and 1970?

It would have to be the famous tied game at Portsmouth in August 1967. I played about 80 matches for Hampshire; it is that game that stands out. We were really good friends with a number of the Middlesex lads like Harry Latchman and Bob Herman who played for them in that tied match. We certainly had a few drinks with them after the game which we should have won at the end really.

I actually didn’t play in the game before up at Grace Road, where the game ended as a draw with the scores exactly level. Chasing 268 to win in that game, we finished up 8 down on 267. I had been struggling with my bowling that summer, but I came into the side in place of Bob Caple for the next game at Portsmouth against Middlesex.

My two enduring memories of this game are both that it was very exciting at the end, and it was a very good declaration by JT (Murray) to set us a target. I checked the details in the 1968 Hampshire Handbook which I have at home and Middlesex declared at teatime on the last day. It left us to get 174 to win in 115 minutes  - which meant scoring 91 runs per hour at six an over.

Earlier in the game, Middlesex had built up a formidable first innings total in good conditions and declared at 12.45 on the second day. You have to remember that there was the crazy system of first innings bonus points that season that meant sides batted at about 2.5 runs an over. The aim was often to bat into the second day to ensure gaining six points for a first innings lead.

What do you remember of that chase on the last day?

We started our first innings in hurricane fashion, with Marshall hitting 4 fours in five balls from Bob Herman. He was a fabulous attacking batsman who would have been brilliant in any era. With the size of bats today, just imagine how far Roy would hit the ball now. In the end, we trailed by about 50 on the first innings. David Turner played superbly well for his 87. It was his highest career score at the time, and he deserved a hundred. Richard Gilliat also made a very attacking 43.

I managed to take three wickets in their second innings after losing my action earlier that year. It was a great relief to regain my place in the side and bowl well. Clive Radley held us up, but they declared on 123 for 9.

So then on to that chase in the last innings. Roy and Barry Reed added nearly 50 in no time, before both got out in the thirties. Richard Gilliat also hit quite a few fours in his 37. We reached 100 in just over an hour, but then there was a mini-collapse, as Danny Livingstone and David Turner pressed for runs. When I came in at 116 for 5, we still wanted 58 in 38 just over half an hour. The Handbook records that “Wheatley then hit 6 quick fours and White an enormous 6 before he was out. Hampshire were in a good position with only 20 needed in the last 20 minutes.”

I went in and had a slog, hit a few boundaries and I know that I was run out for 28, but I can’t remember how in all the excitement that followed.  With the score at 154-8, Brian Timms and Bob Cottam were in together. Bob Herman then had Brian caught behind. That left Derek Shackleton and Bob as the last pair needing 14 in 6 minutes. Soon three were required off the last over and then one off the very last ball of the match. For that last ball, Bob (Herman), who is now one of my closest friends, bowled straight and Bob (Cottam) missed! It was a dramatic tie and Hampshire’s fourth since 1946. It brought back great memories for me to look up the details of the game and talk to you, John, about it. Those points regulations were truly bizarre. I remember we finished about tenth that season. Brian Hayward, who wrote in the local paper, pointed out to me later that we could have finished fourth, not having one a single game, provided we took maximum first innings bonus points.  No team scored at even three an over in those first innings.

Was Portsmouth a favourite ground for you, Keith?

No, Dean Park was always my favourite as an off-spinner. We used to love playing there for the cricket week at Bournemouth in August with all the marquees. There were often big crowds, and the spectators were close to the action. To be fair, we were well supported on all the grounds. It was always a bit of a green wicket at Portsmouth. I often didn’t get much of a chance to bowl there. Southampton was a lovely ground as well of course.

What are your earliest memories of joining Hampshire?

It must have been January 1963 in that old indoor school building at Northlands Road. I was fresh out of school, scoring loads of runs in school cricket, but now I was joining the big boys. I remember facing the seamers. The pace was certainly different. It was freezing cold. I just learnt very quickly on those lino surfaces against “Butch” White to get out of the way. No helmets, of course, way back then. You just had to watch the ball all the time to make sure you could sway of the way of the short stuff. I started off as a batsman at sixteen, but I later got into the side as an off-spinner, batting at eight. In the end, after all my problems losing my bowling in early 1967, it was such a relief to get it back in again as an all-rounder for games like that Middlesex tied game.

How special was the era you played in?

Just amazing. Every week you were playing against the likes of Gary Sobers, Clive Lloyd, Graham McKenzie. The list is endless, but all truly top international players. They weren’t the ‘has-beens’ or ‘never-wasers’ – no, just the world’s best players turning out for county sides from 1968 onwards. You just felt privileged to be on the same field as the likes of Sobers and Barry Richards. Roy Marshall was incredibly special and hit the ball as hard as anybody, but Barry weas absolutely the best player I have ever seen – by some distance. He would have scored so many Test runs. Just look at his record in the Packer era. He averaged about eighty. Nobody came close to how good he was for me. When we met a few years ago at the Utilita Bowl and were chatting about his regrets in the game, he just said he should have made a hundred hundreds. He finished up with 80 and I saw him throw another forty away. He used to get to 70 or 80 before lunch and give it away. It simply all came too easy to him. He would really try to make runs and turn it on against the top bowlers on tough wickets because that gave him great satisfaction. While the rest of us would be struggling, his class, elegance, immaculate placement and fabulous timing meant he was playing a different game. I remember him smacking the likes of Derek Underwood and Jeff Thomson everywhere. I can only think that Tendulkar deserves to come into the conversation in the time since, but even then, I would pick Barry over him every day of the week. He was that good – utterly peerless! Like so many teammates, we all just loved watching him play for Hampshire.

Who was the batsmen you remember bowling to on the county circuit?

Majid Khan for Glamorgan. He was another truly fabulous player. He scored a hundred against us at Cardiff. He could have hit me anywhere that day. My most prized scalp was probably Clive Lloyd when I managed to bowl him for not very many at Old Trafford.  Standing at md-off fielding to Clive, you could see how hard he hit the ball.

What are your fondest memories now reflecting back on those five years at the club?

My best year was 1966 before I got the yips. It was always a confidence thing after that. I am proud that I did recover in 1967, off the back of success in two 2nd XI games at Bournemouth. It meant a lot to regain my place in the side. The friendships I made have lasted right up to the current day. Bob (Herman) and I still play golf every week together - after being on opposite sides very nearly 60 years ago now at Portsmouth for my favourite Hampshire game. It really has been great fun to bring back some wonderful memories for this interview. 

HAMPSHIRE v MIDDLESEX

County Championship

Chosen by Keith Wheatley

23, 24, 25 August 1967 at United Services Ground, Portsmouth                                           Match tied

Toss unknown

MIDDLESEX

                                 First innings                                                   Second innings

WE Russell                c Livingstone b Shackleton          84               b Cottam                      30

MJ Harris                   c Timms b White                     5               b Shackleton               2

PH Parfitt                   c Read b White                         18           c Livingstone b Shackleton 0

MJ Smith                   not out                                   135               c Reed b Cottam            23

*+JT Murray              c Cottam b White                      51               c Turner b Cottam        9

CT Radley                  c Wheatley b Cottam                  17               not out                         46

RW Hooker                not out                                   6   (8)    c Marshall b Wheatley      6

DG Ottley                                                                              (7)    c Gilliat b Wheatley         3

AH Latchman                                                                                     b Wheatley                 0

RS Herman                                                                                        c Turner b Sainsbury    0

JSE Price

Extras                       b 6, nb 5                                  11               b 1, lb 3                     4

Total                         5 wickets dec, 131 overs           327               9 wickets dec, 60 overs 123

FOW: 1st inns  1-17, 2-63, 3-149, 4-274, 5-310

         2nd inns  1-7, 2-7, 3-52, 4-59, 5-80, 6-99, 7-117, 8-118, 9-123.

Hampshire bowling: (First innings) Shackleton 41-14-73-1, White 26-5-80-3, Cottam 30-8-81-1, Sainsbury

24-7-55-0, Wheatley 10-0-27-0. (Second innings) Shackleton 8-4-18-2, White 5-2-7-0, Cottam 20-9-32-3, Sainsbury 19-10-36-1, Wheatley 8-3-26-3.

HAMPSHIRE

                                 First innings                                                   Second innings

*RE Marshall             b Price                                     25               c Harris b Herman         36

BL Reed                    c Harris b Price                       0               b Herman                     35

RMC Gilliat               c Harris b Hooker                                  43               c Russell b Hooker         37

DA Livingstone           b Hooker                                 21               c Herman b Hooker      5

PJ Sainsbury               c Russell b Parfitt                      24   (8)    run out                      0

DR Turner                  c Murray b Latchman                 87   (5)    c Radley b Hooker       3

KJ Wheatley               c Harris b Parfitt                        14               run out                        28

+BSV Timms              not out                                     32   (9)    c Murray b Herman      5

D Shackleton              c Hooker b Herman                    18   (11)   not out                         11

DW White                  lbw b Herman                         3   (6)    c Parfitt b Hooker                    9

RMH Cottam              b Price                                   3   (10)  b Herman                   3

Extras                       b 2, lb 4, nb 1                          7               lb 1                           1

Total                         100.3 overs                            277               31 overs                     173

FOW: 1st inns  1-5, 2-38, 3-88, 4-95, 5-158, 6-194, 7-230, 8-262, 9-266, 10-277

         2nd inns  1-47, 2-95, 3-100, 4-114, 5-116, 6-154, 7-154, 8-154, 9-160, 10-173.

Middlesex bowling: (First innings) Price 23.3-6-77-3, Herman 12-0-59-2, Hooker 25-4-61-2, Parfitt 28-13-46-2, Latchman 12-5-27-1. (Second innings) Price 7-0-66-0, Herman 12-0-44-4, Hooker 12-1-62-4.

Umpires:        JG Langridge & CG Pepper

COP  (1)    Middlesex 268-3

         (2)    Middlesex 327-5dec, Hampshire 230-7.

Keith Wheatley organised the Hampshire annual players reunion for many years and still attends whenever he can.

Match Number Six

I look back on my Hampshire Years with such fondness

1968 Hampshire v International Cavaliers at Tichbourne Park

Result: Hampshire won by 68 runs

An interview with former Test Umpire and Hampshire fast-bowler John Holder

How did you come to join Hampshire, John?

I arrived in England in 1964 from Barbados. I had come to work for London Transport, and I played for a team in London called Caribbean. Soon after, I was invited to play for the BBC. It was actually a very good side with a former West Indian Test leg-spinner who recommended me to Hampshire. I began to bowl quick,  and he said to me you are wasting your time playing club cricket. I think he knew Roy Marshall. Roy was there when I came down to Hampshire for a trial and the rest is history. What a player he was, by the way! He was a very fine attacking player who smashed anything but the very best bowling. A very quiet man who I loved watching bat. My first season was in 1966; I had to do a one-year qualification; it was a season playing 2nd XI cricket for Hampshire.

What was like joining Hampshire at that time?

We had a very good young 2nd XI team We won more games than we lost. A very young David Turner played his first second team games as a 17-year-old. He was such an attacking batsman at the start of his career and a brilliant fielder, of course. Another brilliant fielder at cover point was Barry Reed. The fielding throughout the team was of a very high standard. Mike Barnard had dropped down by that time and was our best batsman. Jimmy Gray, Alan Wassell, Alan Castell and Keith Wheatley all played during that season for us as well. I opened the bowling

and it was Trevor Jesty’s first season. He is my closest friend in the game to this day. Trevor Edward Jesty is also one of the best players I ever played with. He should have played Test Cricket for England. Back in 1966, you could see how good an all-rounder he was. Stylish and very well-balanced as a batsmen, superb fielder anywhere and a very useful bowler in all formats. Trevor made his first team debut in the same month as Richard Gilliat and David Turner in late 1966. Three wonderful servants for the club all coming into an ageing side that had won the Championship just five years earlier. Above all, we just had a great time with great friendships among us. There was such a great rapport between the likes of Trevor Jesty, Richard Lewis, Adam Castell, Keith Wheatley, David Turner and many others. I look back on my Hampshire years with such fondness. It was such a friendly and happy club to play for in both first and second teams. We were called Happy Hants for a reason. . Whenever we meet up again and all talk about those days, it always about how much fun we had, both on and off the field.

How much do you remember about your debut, John?

I had to wait until 1968 to make my debut. I played in the 2nd XI in 1967 because Derek Shackleton, Butch White and Bob Cottam was the seam attack. Gordon Greenidge played one second team as a very young man in 1967. It was John Arlott who had been so influential in bringing him to Hampshire. This young lad from Reading was playing for South of England Schools and smashing the bowling all around the ground with one pad on. You see Gordon had not got any kit, but so much raw talent. Opportunities, though, were limited for him over the next couple of years. He almost wasn’t retained because he didn’t seem to get that much of a chance. He was very quiet and shy as well. It was thanks to Roy Marshall at that end of season contract meeting that Gordon was not released by Hampshire. A few years later when he started opening with Barry, we all began to see just how good he really was. If I picked any World XI, they would be my opening partnership. I made my debut against Somerset at Portsmouth in 1968. It was the season Barry arrived of course. I was lucky enough to get Greg Chappell out lbw for my second wicket. At the time, most people reckoned that - behind Don Bradman – he was Australia's greatest batsman. Greg was such an elegant player. He was nothing like his brother, Ian, who was a scrappy player. but a very tough competitor. Greg had all the elegance and calmness as well. He was particularly strong through the on side, including the pick-up shot through square leg off his hips. Fortunately, I finished with 5-96, bowling first change in that first innings. My very first wicket was actually Mervyn Kitchen who I umpired with in later years in Test Cricket.

Was your favourite Hampshire game the one when you took that Kent hat-trick in your last season in 1972?

It was not my favourite game, but definitely the best 10 minutes in any game. As you say, it came in the first innings of the home game against Kent in mid-July at Southampton. Their openers put on over a hundred for the first wicket and went into lunch still not having lost a wicket. Peter Sainsbury then struck in the first over, trapping Nicholls lbw. In my first over from the other end, I managed to get the opener Graham Johnson caught behind. My second victim was Asif Iqbal bowled and then, for the hat-trick,  my fellow West Indian Bernard Julian. The umpires in that game were David Constant and Arthur Jepson. I was so happy to get those three, but I bowled a load of rubbish after that! I ended up with 3 for 106. Apart from taking those wickets, there was not a lot to shout about.  A much better game and my second favourite Ham had actually come a month or so earlier at the old Waggon Works Ground in Gloucester. It was a very close game which we ended losing by two wickets. We batted first and Barry made 64 out of 190. We then bowled them out for 164 early on day two. They had been about 60/1 at the close, but I took 6 for 49, beating my previous Championship best of 5-36. I am pretty sure that took me past 100 Championship wickets for Hampshire with that last wicket. Second time round when we batted, we made just 200 and declared 8 down. Trevor Jesty top-scored again with 50 on a testing wicket. They then managed to chase them down, thanks in the main to a brilliant century by Mike Proctor. As good as the hundred he made was the catch that Barry took to dismiss him. I am not sure anyone took a better catch in all my time with Hampshire off my bowling. Starting to go to his right at first slip, he had to adjust with the ball coming off the inside edge and he caught it low to the ground with his left hand almost behind the keeper. 24 hours after achieving my career best analysis, I had bettered it again with 7-79. At the time, The Telegraph used to give a magnum of champagne for the performance of the week. Just my luck to do it in the same week as Bob Massie, taking all his wickets at Lord’s in the Ashes Test. I ended up with 13-128 in the match, on the losing side, and with hardly a mention in the conversation about any champagne! It was certainly a great game of cricket. We thought we had a chance when Proctor was out in the 16th over of the last 20. They won with one ball to spare.

How tough was it starting your career bowling at so many international superstars on the county circuit in 1968?

I loved the challenge and wanted to bowl quick at all of them. My fellow West Indians Sobers, Kanhai, Kallicharran and Clive Lloyd were all brilliant players to play against, of course. The standard of cricket In England was very high at the time. The best batsman of all of them was in my team, thank goodness. I can recall Greg Chappell mentioning to me later,“ When we played Hampshire,” he said, “I always watched Barry Richards very closely when he was batting. ‘Mate,’ I said to myself, ‘I’m going to have to learn how to play on the off-side like that guy. The thing is that in Test cricket, you have to be strong on both sides of the wicket.” Barry could certainly play all round the wicket. He just made the game look ridiculously easy. The other thing about Barry, he just got bored. Whereas Boycott would squeeze every last run out of his innings, Barry used to entertain everyone with his genius and then give it away sometimes. In that first season, he smashed a double hundred again at Portsmouth against Notts. I was just sitting there watching on that small pavilion balcony. Even though Sobers opened the bowling, he hit them all around the park. In fact, he was just walking down the pitch to the fast bowlers, when they took the second new ball, to dispatch them all to all parts. Nobody has ever made batting look so easy. Barry also helped Gordon so much to become the player he was. At that time, Gordon was struggling to get picked for the second team; he was picking up litter and operating the scoreboard. My word, how that changed within a couple of years. Both Hampshire legends now, but it was Barry who stood out immediately from his first season in 1968. He was also a great guy in the dressing room as well. As openers, they were so dominant from ball one, making county bowlers, like me, look so ordinary.

All of this is building up to your favourite Hampshire game John. We have talked about some special ones in your last season. Was it much earlier than that?

Yes, it was back in my first full season where I made my Hampshire debut: Hampshire v the International Cavaliers at Tichborne Park on Sunday 11th August 1968.  I ended up with 6 wickets for seven runs, including Denis Compton first ball and Bobby Simpson first ball. Two of my other wickets were Ted Dexter and the Pakistani batsman Saeed Ahmed. We batted first and made about 160. Roy Marshall batted beautifully for his fifty. This was a televised match on BBC2 with John Arlott and Peter West, in the year before the John Player League started. I came on first change at “Butch” White’s end. I had 5 for 3 in my first six overs. The last two men at the crease were a former Australian Test seamer Grahame Corling and the great Frank Tyson. Corling nicked me through the slips before I cleaned him up next ball to finish with 6-7. That was the best performance in any of the televised International Cavaliers matches which drew decent sized crowds. At the end of the season, I was awarded a cheque for £250 by the BBC. There was also a trophy with a globe on it for the televised performance of the season. We bowled them out for 94 that day and nobody was expecting that. It was my day, and I will never forget it. You have to remember I was just making my way in the game for Hampshire that summer. Sadly, I have never seen the  television pictures from the game. There were no video recorders or anything like that back in those days. The recording of the game must have been lost at the BBC.

Do you look back on Hampshire as your club very much still?

Very much so. I was obviously incredibly lucky to umpire all around the country and in Test matches, but my time with Hampshire was very special. I always enjoy meeting up with the guys I played with at the annual reunions at the club at the new ground that I can get down from Manchester to attend. It is a special club in so many ways.

HAMPSHIRE v INTERNATIONAL CAVALIERS

International Cavaliers matches 1968

Chosen by John Holder

11 August 1968 at Tichborne Park, Tichborne                                     Hampshire won by 69 runs

Toss unknown

HAMPSHIRE

                     BA Richards               b Ramnarace                21

                     BL Reed                    c Evans b Tyson          0

                     PJ Sainsbury               c Dexter b Simpson        26

                     DA Livingstone           b Ramnarace              0

                     DR Turner                  lbw b Corling               24

                     HM Barnard               b Simpson                  0

                     *RE Marshall             run out                        50

                     +BSV Timms              c Simpson b Lloyd         17

                     JW Holder                  b Tyson                     1

                     DW White                  b Lloyd                      1

                     RMH Cottam              not out                       0

Extras                       b 1, lb 8, w 4                13

Total                         38.3 overs                  163

FOW: 1-7, 2-43, 3-43, 4-89, 5-89, 6-91, 7-148, 8-149, 9-158, 10-163

International Cavaliers bowling: Tyson 9-0-28-2, Ramnarace 9-1-34-2,

Corling 9-1-31-1, Simpson 7-0-45-2, Lloyd 4-1-7-2, Dexter 0.3-0-5-0.

INTERNATIONAL CAVALIERS

                     BA Davis                   b Sainsbury                  22

                     FS Goldstein              b Holder                      13

*ER Dexter                c Marshall b Holder     2

CH Lloyd                   c Barnard b Cottam        22

RB Simpson               lbw b Holder              1

DCS Compton            b Holder                    0

Saeed Ahmed              b Holder                    1

R Ramnarace              run out                      8

TG Evans                   c Cottam b Sainsbury   0

FH Tyson                   not out                       3

GE Corling                 b Holder                    8

Extras                       b 4, lb 8, nb 2                14

Total                         33.3 overs                    94

FOW: 1-35, 2-45, 3-45, 4-48, 5-48, 6-54, 7-82, 8-82, 9-82, 10-94.

Hampshire bowling: White 6-1-25-0, Cottam 8-2-25-1, Holder 8.3-4-7-6,

Sainsbury 9-1-17-2, Richards 2-0-8-0.

John Holder was only the sixth bowler to take a hat-trick for Hampshire in the County Championship when he achieved that feat against Kent in 1972.

Match Number Seven

1969 Essex v Hampshire at Ilford

Result: Essex won by 124 runs

Five Ts

Written by David Ackland

It might well be asked why a lifelong Hampshire supporter (first Hampshire Handbook 1966, first junior membership 1970) should choose as a favourite match, one in Essex, and, moreover, one which Hampshire lost. I prefer the term memorable to favourite, for reasons I hope will become obvious. I was born and brought up in northeast London, but inherited my passion for Hampshire from my father, and his roots through many generations in northern Hampshire. But, living where I was, my first professional cricket was at Leyton County Ground, a bus ride from home, and which Essex had owned until the 1920s, and which remained their HQ until the 30s. It became a council park after Essex relinquished it due to financial difficulties, and they became peripatetic until they purchased Chelmsford in 1966, resuming play there in 1967. Once my brother bought a car, we watched Essex at Brentwood, Colchester (two grounds), Chelmsford, Westcliff and (after the start of the John Player League) Harlow and Purfleet, amongst others. But Ilford, another council owned park, was my second professional cricket venue – also a bus ride from home, a route which went past my school, and which brought many of my schoolfriends to school from the opposite direction. 

Truancy. Well, my team playing just a bus ride away! How could I resist? A Wednesday during exam season when I was in the lower sixth – presumably I should have been revising at school – but the temptation was too great. I must have been persuasive, as quite a gang of us were there. Cricket Archive records ‘Toss not known’, but the printed part of my scorecard records that Essex won the toss and batted. They made 246 a.o. The cutting in my scrapbook records that “Fletcher adds a touch of gaiety to the gentility”, but, as he made only 38, this was the journalistic tendency to home in on a star performer, he being in the news having been dropped by England.

Essex batted until after....

Tea, which was a memorable interval as I sought Shack’s autograph as he went off. “After I’ve had a bit o’ tea, lad” he said. Although I got Bob Cottam and Butch White’s autographs that day, I never got Shack’s! Hampshire were left with just over an hour to play and reached 46-1 by the close. The wicket lost was that of Richards, bowled by John Lever. More dramatically, just before the close Richard Gilliat was felled by a bouncer from Keith Boyce: long before the days of helmets. 

Gilliat had been enduring a pretty torrid season, with scores thus far of 13, 1, 0, 0, 13, 17, 7, 59 (finally!!) and dnb, so to be felled for 16 in 35 minutes must have been both painful and disappointing. But the next day, disappointment turned to...

Triumph. When he resumed the next day, the score was 90-5. Sadly, I was back at school, as Gilliat scored 109, turning his season around. 49 years later, at Hampshire’s dinner for the living captains, I told Richard that story, to which he responded that, not only did he score a century, but it was the fastest of the season! And indeed, after taking 35 minutes to score 16 the previous evening, he added 84 in 66 more minutes, with a six and 17 fours,  to reach his century, finally being LBW to Ray East for 109.

Hampshire declared on 250-9, but it all turned to...

Tears as Essex made 298-9 before declaring. Hampshire subsided to 170 all out, with eight wickets falling to the three spinners: Ray East, Robin Hobbs and David Acfield, to lose by 124 runs. Essex then, and in the years immediately following, was extremely strapped for cash, and at times had a contracted staff of only 12 or 13 players. They regularly played all three spinners – Acfield (OB),East (SLA) and Hobbs (LBG) – impossible to imagine now, especially as all three were genuine tail-enders. A team full of characters from the obdurate Barker to the eccentric East, skippered by the sergeant majorly figure of ‘Tonker’ Taylor. 

But had the....

Triumphs ended? No! Gilliat went on to have a wonderful season after that, which was repeatedly attributed by journalists to the knock on the head from Boyce. Prior to that, he had totalled 110 runs, with one fifty, at an average of 13.75. He added 1137runs, including 2 fifties and 6 centuries, to end with 1247 Championship runs @ 40.22. His centuries were: 109 v Essex, 100* v Somerset, 106 Surrey, 114 v Glamorgan, 132 v Middlesex and, of course, 223* v Warwickshire. 

In 1969, batting points were awarded for every 25 runs over 150 scored in the first 85 overs. Hampshire declared against Warwickshire on 426-5 after 83 overs, having garnered 11 batting points. Gilliat, coming in at 28-1, contributed 223* of 398 scored whilst he was at the crease. (In consequence the TCCB limited batting points to 5 the following season). Warwickshire struggled in their second innings, reaching 303-9, and obtaining a draw, largely thanks to Cartwright (74) and A C Smith (64*) batting at 7 and 8, rescuing them from 153-6.

When our redoubtable HCH website editor asked me to write about my favourite match, I said that this match was not a favourite, but memorable. In writing this, I have discovered even that to be untrue. Firstly, I would have bet good money on this match having been played in 1968, not 1969. And that anecdote about Shack and the autograph? Well, I know it happened and my memory tells me firmly that it was during this match – but, since he wasn’t playing in this match, it was clearly another game.... but which one? 

That’s a Teaser! “Old men forget.”

(It must have been 1967 when Hampshire also played at Valentine’s Park: Shack took 5-57 and 7-37, for match figures of 12-94)

Though living in Surrey, David hardly ever misses a home or away Hampshire game.

ESSEX v HAMPSHIRE

County Championship

Chosen by David Ackland

11, 12, 13 June 1969 at Valentine’s Park, Ilford                                             Essex won by 124 runs

Toss unknown

ESSEX

                                 First innings                                                   Second innings

B Ward                      c Stephenson b Cottam             5               c Livingstone b White    13

BEA Edmeades           c Castel b Cottam                      75               run out                        22

G Barker                    c Cottam b White                      14               b Castel                       36

KWR Fletcher            c Stephenson b Cottam               38               c Richards b Cottam     5

BL Irvine                   c Castel b Cottam                      30               b Castel                     4

KD Boyce                  c&b Jesty                                 16               not out                       147

*+B Taylor                 c&b Castel                       31               c Jesty b Cottam          9

RNS Hobbs                c Jesty b Castel                         18               c Castel b White          4

RE East                     run out                                  5               run out                        22

JK Lever                    b Cottam                                0               run out                        17

DL Acfield                 not out                                   0               not out                       0

Extras                       lb 6, nb 8                                 14               lb 11, nb 8                    19

Total                         78 overs                                 246               9 wickets dec, 73 overs 298

FOW:    1st inns  1-5, 2-31, 3-84, 4-160, 5-177, 6-190, 7-231, 8-242, 9-243, 10-246.

         2nd inns  1-18, 2-59, 3-73, 4-80, 5-86, 6-122, 7-147, 8-200, 9-297.

Hampshire bowling: (First innings) White 20-4-52-1, Cottam 22-4-64-5, Castel 22-3-80-2, Jesty 5-1-18-1, Sainsbury 9-3-18-0. (Second innings) White 23-2-77-2, Cottam 27-5-98-2, Castel 13-1-75-2, Sainsbury

10-2-29-0.

HAMPSHIRE

                                 First innings                                                   Second inns

BA Richards               b Lever                                    18               c Taylor b Edmeades      18

BL Reed                    c Taylor b Lever                        10               c Edmeades b Lever     2

RMC Gilliat               lbw b East                              109               c Ward b Acfield           38

+GR Stephenson         c Lever b Hobbs                        21   (8)    st Taylor b Hobbs        0

*RE Marshall             c Taylor b Lever                        10   (4)    c Boyce b East              15

PJ Sainsbury               c Lever b Acfield                       28   (5)    c Boyce b Hobbs           59

DA Livingstone           c Lever b Hobbs                      1   (6)    c Taylor b east             0

TE Jesty                     b East                                    6   (7)    c Fletcher b East          4

AT Castel                   c Boyce b Acfield                                  19               c Boyce b East            8

RMH Cottam              not out                                     11               lbw b Hobbs               6

DW White                  not out                                     10               not out                       0

Extras                       lb 2, nb 5                               7               b 16, lb 4                     20

Total                         9 wickets dec. 83.5 overs          250               62.3 overs                  170

FOW: 1st inns  1-20, 2-46, 3-69, 4-83, 5-90, 6-198, 7-204, 8-211, 9-238.

         2nd inns  1-4, 2-44, 3-73, 4-87, 5-87, 6-119, 7-144, 8-147, 9-170, 10-170.

Essex bowling: (First innings) Boyce 23-3-69-0, Lever 20.5-7-37-3, Edmeades 5-0-28-0, Hobbs 14-4-57-2, Acfield 14-6-22-2, East 7-2-30-2. (Second innings) Boyce 7-1-14-0, Lever 4-1-24-1, Edmeades 7-2-23-1, Hobbs 9.3-2-11-3, Acfield 15-7-24-1, East 20-6-54-4.

Umpires:        WE Alley and AE Fagg

COP: (1)    Essex 246, Hampshire 46-1.

         (2)    Essex 246 and 139-6, Hampshire 250-9 de

Match Number Eight

1969 Hampshire v Warwickshire

Result: Match Drawn

We always enjoyed tremendous home support

An interview with former Hampshire Captain Richard Gilliat

In 1968, there was the arrival of the overseas players and Barry Richards joining Hampshire. How much do you remember about the summer?

Well, let's talk first of all about how he signed for Hampshire. It was very last minute, I think it was 99% certain that Clive Lloyd was joining us, when he opted for Lancashire instead. It left us, virtually at the last minute, without an overseas player. The deal that we had offered Clive was never going to be enough, because his club side in Lancashire contacted Lancashire and said that they would double anything that we were prepared to pay. They just did not want to lose him. He was a talisman for the Lancashire leagues and somebody Lancashire particularly wanted. So yeah, it was a very much a last-minute thing. I had spent some time in South Africa with Martin Harrison, son of Leo. Martin had spent a lot of time in South Africa, and he knew Barry and recommended him very highly. In fact, I'd actually played against Barry when he came over in 1963. He captained a South African Nuffield Schools side against Charterhouse. He scored a fantastic hundred and I remember former South African opening batsman, Jackie McGlew, was coaching that side. He told us that day that Barry was the best young player he'd ever seen. I didn't doubt that at all. Everything we saw that day, just bore that out. In all my time, when I went on to play the game professionally, I never saw a better player. 

What about your own season in 1968?

It was a much harder season for me. I know that I didn't make a hundred in that third season. Barry just ended it up making it look so much easier than everyone else, including Roy Marshall who was, himself, a very destructive batsman.

Injuries ravaged the side in 1969 and you had to retire hurt at Ilford in mid-June after you were struck on the head by Keith Boyce?

I got hit on the head and retired hurt. Thankfully, I was able to join Peter (Sainsbury) back at the wicket the next day and things just went my way. It was the start of a great run of form for me actually.

Richard's modesty prohibits him from elaborating on that knock of 109 at Ilford which was the fastest Championship century of the season that year. It was the first of Richard's six centuries that summer; his second came in the next game at home to Glamorgan (112) at Bournemouth. 

Is it true that before 1969, you never really felt as if you were going to make it as a professional for Hampshire? 

That is absolutely right. I was just lucky enough to score 6 centuries that season, but it was the game against Warwickshire at home when I got 223 not out that really sticks in the memory. It was the only double century that I scored for Hampshire. And my other memory from that summer, and this game in particular, was about the bonus points. Bonus points were awarded for each 25 runs after 150 in the first 85 overs; we managed to get maximum bonus points that day. 

Did it help having the John Player League for the first time that summer in 1969?

Maybe that freed me up a bit. I remember making a hundred against Glamorgan on the Saturday at Bournemouth and then making a fifty on the Sunday at Southampton in "Butch" White's Benefit game. We finished second to Lancashire in that first season of the JPL but became a far better Sunday side in 1975. Just going back to that double hundred, I remember partnerships both with Roy Marshall and Danny Livingstone. Roy made the game look so easy. I was batting three and he was four. He was ridiculously talented, unpredictable. He could hit the ball to all parts; you weren't quite sure what you were going to get. I remember batting sometimes at number three when he was opening, and you'd be on the edge of your seat, because the first ball could fly down to third man as easily as be hit straight back over the bowler's head. But make no mistake, Roy was a fantastic player. 

Richard, what are your memories of the attack that you faced against Warwickshire?  

I do remember that there were some good bowlers in that Warwickshire line-up. Ibadulla was playing and he came on after Blenkiron and McVicker. But it was Tom Cartwright who was the pick. He bowled such great lines, wicket to wicket. He also moved it around enough both ways. He was always difficult to face, but I managed to work him a few times to leg. He went for a few runs that day and I remember him just saying, "you know, why do I have to bowl to this chap?" I don't think he was particularly impressed with the way that I scored my runs, but it was a day when everything went right. And actually, my other memory of that day, of course, is that, as I was walking back to the pavilion at tea, I was capped. It was a Monday at the end of June. There wasn't a big crowd, but it was such a special moment for me. I felt that I'd really finally arrived in the side by then. Barry Richards would have been one of the stars, of course, but he didn't play in the game where I got 223 because he'd been knocked unconscious by Mike Proctor about a week or two early. So, he was unavailable. Unlike me, he could hit the ball to all parts of the ground. Obviously, he was just a genius, the best player I ever played with, simply the best player I have ever seen play the game. As I said before, he just had everything. All these years later, the memories remain so vivid. I can't remember many of my own innings thankfully. Barry, on the other hand, was just such a wonderful timer of a cricket ball and just a joy to watch from the other end when you batted with him. He only had one weakness and that was boredom! He loved the battle. He loved playing against the best; it brought the best out of him. The more difficult the conditions, the better he played; the more the challenge, the greater the number of runs that he made. He actually missed a few games that second season through injury, but still made nearly 1500 runs in the Championship. I think he made 5 hundreds that summer.

You were also vice-captain in 1969. How did it come about that you ended up that season taking on the captaincy at Hampshire? 

Yes, so it was the end of the 1969 season that Roy was injured. I'd struggled a little bit with injuries myself, but then towards the end of the season, I was given the chance to captain the side in the absence of Roy. It was for the last two Championship games that season and for the last two Sundays in the JPL. Roy was a wonderful player, but maybe not the most adventurous or attacking captain. We had a very good bowling attack that summer with Bob Cottam and "Butch" White, Alan Castell, Peter Sainsbury and Trevor Jesty. Bob and "Butch" took 200 Championship wickets between them opening the bowling. Later, as the full-time captain, I wanted to change the tone a little bit. I had great support from Desmond (Eagar) behind the scenes. I just wanted us to play a more attacking form of cricket. Roy immediately returned a captain in 1970 when he was fit again. In those two games as captain in 1969, I dropped down the order to four - with David (Turner) slotting in at three, where he was so well suited. We also said a final good-bye to "Shack" at the end of that special summer of 1969.

In terms of your mantras later as a full-time captain, what were the big things that you always believed in?

I was very much in favour of attacking cricket with the bat: I always wanted us to score our runs quickly, put pressure on the opposition, have a positive mindset because bonus points were so important. In the field, it was all about having a fast over rate, moving quickly between overs, because you wanted to give yourself the best chance to take 20 wickets in the game. Obviously catches win matches, so the fielding was the thing, probably, during my time as captain, that consistently stood out and put us right towards the top always. The opening partnership was totally fearless and put us on the front foot when we were batting. But the fielding with David Turner in the covers, the brilliant slip cordon and Bob (Stephenson) behind the stumps made us a top side and stand out. We were also a happy side, a very positive dressing room. It was an easy team to captain in many ways because I think we all wanted to play the game the same way. 'Keep the game moving forwards and give ourselves every chance to win'. 

Finally, as captain, what do you think was the secret of Hampshire's success in the seventies? 

We were lucky that we had no England test stars. There was continuity of selection, a lot of experience - mixed with a lot of ambition and desire. But you do make your own luck in the game. We didn't prepare any wickets, particularly. We had such a good balance to the side - with three genuine all-rounders. The bowlers were very skilful against many of the world's best batsmen playing in county cricket back then. There was a real depth to the squad as well. We enjoyed going to play on any ground. We also enjoyed tremendous home support. Each of the Hampshire grounds we went to - especially for Bournemouth Cricket Week and Portsmouth Cricket Week - meant we were tremendously well supported. Hampshire crowds are always very partisan, very knowledgeable, but, overall, incredibly supportive of the team. Looking back now, it was such a privilege for me to captain Hampshire, with so many great professionals in that era. 

Richard Gilliat captained Hampshire to their last County Championship title win in 1973.

HAMPSHIRE v WARWICKSHIRE

County Championship

Chosen by Richard Gilliat

28, 30 June 1 July 1969 at County Ground, Southampton                                      Match drawn

Toss Warwickshire

WARWICKSHIRE

                                 First innings                                                   Second innings

RW Barber                 c Cottam b Castell                     17               c Sainsbury b castell      86

Khalid Ibadulla           c Cottam b Sainsbury                 52               c Stephenson b White     15

DL Amiss                  c Stephenson b Castell              2               lbw b Cottam              8

RB Kanhai                 lbw b Cottam                            42               c Jesty b Sainsbury        31

JA Jameson                lbw b Jesty                               50               c White b Sainsbury     1

GS Warner                 c Stephenson b Cottam               21               c Cottam b Castell       1

TW Cartwright            c Gilliat b Sainsbury                7               c Stephenson b Castell    74

*+AC Smith               c Cottam b White                      21               not out                         64

EE Hemmings            not out                                     35               c Stephenson b Castell  0

W Blenkiron               c Stephenson b White               2               lbw b Castell              4

NM McVicker            c Lewis b White                      4               not out                       2

Extras                       b 2, lb 16, nb 3                          21               b 2, lb 5, w 1, nb 9         17

Total                         98.1 overs                              274               9 wickets, 129 overs     303

FOW: 1st inns  1-23, 2-35, 3-97, 4-155, 5-177, 6-204, 7-205, 8-250, 9-264, 10-174.

         2nd inns  1-40, 2-76, 3-151, 4-151, 5-153, 6-153, 7-270, 8-270, 9-295

Hampshire bowling: (First innings) White 18.1-6-46-3, Cottam 28-8-72-2, Castell 15-2-50-2, Jesty 17-4-35-1, Sainsbury 20-4-50-2. (Second innings) White 23-5-62-1, Cottam 29-9-67-1, Castell 30-7-67-5, Jesty 19-5-49-0, Sainsbury 28-17-41-2.

HAMPSHIRE

                                 First innings

BL Reed                    lbw b Blenkiron                        18

RV Lewis                   c&b Barber                              73

RMC Gilliat               not out                                   223

*RE Marshall             c Kanhai b Cartwright                87

PJ Sainsbury               lbw b Khalid Ibadulla               0

DA Livingstone           b Barber                                  20

TE Jesty

+GR Stephenson

AT castell

RMH Cottam

DW White

Extras                       lb 4, nb 1                               5

Total                         5 wickets dec. 83 overs             426

FOW: 1st inns  1-28, 2-158, 3-377, 4-380, 5-426.

Warwickshire bowling: (First innings) Blenkiron 18-1-61-1, McVicker 14-1-72-0, Cartwright 19-2-75-1, Khalid Ibadulla 12-0-83-1, Barber 12-1-74-2, Hemmings 8-0-56-0.

Umpires;     JG Langridge and WE Phillipson

COP (1)   Warwickshire 274, Hampshire 11-0.

         (2)   Warwickshire 274 and 74-1, Hampshire 426-5 dec.

Match Number Nine

1969 Hampshire v Northants

Result: Northants won by 139 runs

Would I have to protect my partner?

Written by former Hampshire pace bowler Richard Mcilwaine

My favourite Hampshire game would have to be v Northants 27th, 28th and 29th August 1969 at Dean Park. I had been called back from a riotous tour of the West Country with the Hants and Sussex Borderers (possibly not the best preparation for a three-day county match) to achieve my ambition of playing 1st X1 cricket for Hampshire. I remember being incredibly nervous, not so much about bowling and batting but fielding. Hampshire at the time were the best fielding side in the country owing much to Barry Reed who had set a fine example to the younger players patrolling the covers like a leopard. My fielding was not in the same class and when catches were skied in my direction, teammates would shout: "money on the ball!" Harsh but fair.

So, when I took the field aged 19, in my first season, I was petrified as there was a big crowd of locals and holiday makers. Northants were a very strong side at that time so when Roy Marshall said, "Next over that end, Richard,"  I knew there would be no easy wickets but before I got a chance to bowl, Roy sprained his ankle in the field and played no further part in the match. This meant that Richard Gilliat took over and he nursed me through my spell after my first over went for eight. I remember him telling me to bowl at Peter Willey's leg stump because he murdered anything outside off stump but didn't have shots off his legs at that time - I imagine that was why he adapted and became very square on. I bowled tidily and didn't drop any catches so was quite pleased when Northants declared 325 for 5 in 110 overs. Mushtaq Mohammad made 154 not out.

When we batted, the wicket was starting to take spin which was usually the case at Bournemouth, so Mushtaq and Breakwell did most of the bowling and wickets fell pretty steadily. I found myself going out to bat at 156 for 8 needing 19 to avoid the follow on with Marshall injured. As I went out to bat, John Arlott said on the radio that I was not well known for my batting which didn't please my parents who were listening at home. Would I have to protect my partner? Probably not, as it was Barry Richards on 110 not out. He farmed the bowling and once we were past the follow-on total, he gave me free rein! We put on 36 for the last wicket and Barry was not out 127 from a total of 192 - a master class. I was equal second top scorer with 17 and had had the privilege of batting with Barry Richards.

Bob Cottam and Butch White gave me some friendly abuse for getting them back in the field. Interestingly, all 8 Northants wickets fell to seam bowlers, and I took my first wicket - Mushtaq for 2 caught Gilliat. Northants declared on 149 for 8 and bowled us out for 143 winning by 139 runs. All our 2nd innings wickets fell to spin. 

John Woodcock wrote a very kind piece about my very ordinary debut, possibly influenced by his brother Hugh who had been my headmaster at Portsmouth Grammar Lower School! Barry Richards commented that if I was well built then he was Charles Atlas - banter was alive and well in the Hampshire dressing room. I was well supported in the dressing room, and I was very well treated by the club throughout my short professional career. I look back on that time with great affection and I was glad I gave professional cricket a go, but I was undoubtedly more suited to teaching. 

I owe cricket a huge debt as being reasonably good at it, it eased my passage through school; gave me unforgettable experiences; introduced me to many great people and definitely helped my CV when applying for teaching jobs! It's a great game and it enhanced my life enormously - and still does.

Richard Mcilwaine was described by John Arlott as "well built and with an economical run up".

Barry Richards just playing a different game to everyone else!

Written by Hampshire supporter Charles Dusting

The Hampshire game/performance that sticks in my memory above all others (and there are many) is the 3-day game Hants v Northants at Bournemouth in August 1969 - the second game of the Bournemouth cricket week - in particular Day 2. I was only 14 at the time and had left our family fortnight's holiday in Devon after one week to travel back to Bournemouth on my own by train, in order to stay with my grandmother, specifically so I could watch all the week's cricket. The first day dawned hot and sunny with a large crowd and Northants piled on a large total of around 350, with Mushtaq Mohammad contributing 154 not out. Also in their team were Peter Willey, Roger Prideaux, and the South African/Rhodesian opening pair of Hylton Ackerman and Fred Goldstein.

Day 2 - Northants had declared and Hampshire went in. The first point to notice was a total change in the weather - it was overcast, cool and murky, and there was a much smaller crowd of barely 1000. Those lucky people were held enthralled by the greatest innings I have ever seen in nearly 60 years of watching cricket. Hampshire were in trouble against the two-pronged spin attack of Mushtaq and Dennis Breakwell. Their strong batting line-up was literally skittled - with the likes of Jesty, Gilliat, etc. all going for single figures and being totally bamboozled by the spin. The wicket was obviously taking spin, and the conditions were also helping. But at the other end was Barry Richards playing a different game from everyone else. He looked totally at home, hitting boundary after boundary with consummate ease. This bearing in mind that all the other top batsmen had been at sea. Wickets kept falling at the other end, until the last man came in to join Richards. This was a young lad straight from Portsmouth Grammar School called Richard McIlwaine making his debut - he only played a handful of games more. He was primarily a bowler but somehow, he stayed with Richards, who, the minute the last man came in, upped the tempo with nearly every ball he received being despatched to the boundary. The crowd were enthralled. Then at last, after a heroic effort, McIlwaine was dismissed leaving Richards unbeaten on 127 carrying his bat out of a total of 192.

I can remember the second the last wicket fell there was silence, and then, with no pre-prepared signal, every single person in the ground rose to their feet still in silence and applauded him all the way from the crease to the pavilion. He doffed his cap as usual and walked off in his casual manner just as if he had been out for a stroll in his back garden. I remember being virtually in tears - in my few years of watching cricket I had never seen anyone remotely as good as Barry Richards - I saw many others of his great innings (although not nearly enough) but this one really stood out. In 55 years of cricket watching since and seeing nearly all the great players, I have never seen any batsman that even approaches him. After this exhibition, the rest of the game was an anti-climax (as many games were when Barry Richards was dismissed), with Northants easing to victory with such a first innings lead.

This was my most memorable Hampshire moment, but I would also like to mention :-

 - the 1991 NatWest final with the duel in the setting sun between Robin Smith and Waqar Younis, and the incredible six hit by Jon Ayling.

 - the 2021 championship finale at Liverpool where Hampshire were 4 balls away from the Championship (although this does not show in the stats) by the narrowest of margins.

 - the match already reported on by Andy Murtagh against the 1975 Australians - again featuring the genius of Richards.

 - the classic B&H semi-final in 1977 featuring the Mike Procter 4 wickets in 5 balls, including a hat-trick.

and many more, but I guessed far more people around today had attended these big games and the more recent games, whereas I would guess there are not too many still around today who had the privilege to be at Bournemouth that day in the late 60s in cool weather in front of a small crowd to watch the innings of a batting genius. But then I was not around to see his 155 not out at Hull in 1970 out of a total of just over 200, or his incredible century at Lords against MCC in 1974, and many more - what can they have been like?

My support has always been for Hampshire as a team rather than any one player, and there are Hampshire players who are all-time favourites for me - Malcolm Marshall, Peter Sainsbury, Robin Smith, Derek Shackleton, Trevor Jesty, to name but a few, including James Vince and Liam Dawson of the current team at the very least. But if I have to name the greatest batsman I have ever seen, there is only one candidate, even surpassing his truly great namesake by some margin - and that is really saying something ! Wasn't I lucky as a schoolboy growing up in Bournemouth to be able to watch him open the batting.

Charles Dusting now lives in Worcestershire, but still travels around the country to watch his beloved Hampshire.

HAMPSHIRE v NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

County Championship

Chosen by Richard McIlwaine and Charles Dusting

27, 28, 29 August 1969 at Dean Park, Bournemouth                           Northamptonshire won by 139 runs

Toss unknown

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

                                 First innings                                                   Second innings

FS Goldstein              lbw b White                            7               lbw b White                  20

HM Ackerman            b White                                   54               b Jesty                         34

A Lightfoot                c Stephenson b Cottam             9               b White                       41

Mushtaq Mohammad   not out                                   154               c Gilliat b McIlwaine       2

*RM Prideaux            c Livingstone b White                30   (7)    b Cottam                    7

P Willey                     c Stephenson b Cottam               48   (5)    run out                        12

+LA Johnson              not out                                   0   (6)    b White                     0

DS Steele                                                                                           not out                         16

MK Kettle                                                                                          c Cottam b White        3

D Breakwell                                                                                       not out                       3

PG Lee

Extras                       b 11, lb 9, w 1, nb 2                   23               b 4, lb 3, nb 4                11

Total                         5 wickets dec, 110 overs           325               8 wickets dec, 52 overs 149

FOW: 1st inns  1-10, 2-33, 3-111, 4-201, 5-325

         2nd inns  1-25, 2-70, 3-87, 4-113, 5-113, 6-120, 7-138, 8-144.

Hampshire bowling; (First innings) White 27-8-89-3, Cottam 33-10-78-2, Jesty 25-6-69-0, McIlwaine

23-7-58-0, Wheatley 2-1-8-0.   (Second innings) White 17-4-45-4, Cottam 18-2-44-1, Jesty 9-1-37-1, McIlwaine 8-3-12-1.

HAMPSHIRE

                                 First innings                                                   Second innings

BA Richards               not out                                   127   c Kettle b Mushtaq Mohammad    19

DR Turner                  lbw b Lee                               4               c Steele b Willey         2

RMC Gilliat               c Mushtaq Mohammad b Lee         0               lbw b Breakwell            54

DA Livingstone           c Lightfoot b Breakwell              17   c Goldstein b Mushtaq Mohammad   28

KJ Wheatley               c Willey b Breakwell                0               c Lee b Breakwell        4

TE Jesty                    b Breakwell                            0               c Kettle b Breakwell    0

+GR Stephenson         lbw b Lee                                 15               lbw b Breakwell            23

RMH Cottam              b Mushtaq Mohammad             4   st Johnson b Mushtaq Mohammad  4

DW White                  st Johnson b Mushtaq Mohammad  4               b Breakwell                1

RJ McIlwaine             st Johnson b Mushtaq Mohammad    17               not out                       2

*RE Marshall             absent hurt                                                     absent hurt

Extras                       lb 1, nb 3                               4               lb 2, nb 4                   6

Total                         72.2 overs                              192               53.2 overs                  143

FOW: 1st inns  1-19, 2-19, 3-95, 4-97, 5-97, 6-127, 7-146, 8-156, 9-192.

         2nd inns  1-2, 2-82, 3-94, 4-94, 5-94, 6-121, 7-125, 8-134, 9-143.

Northamptonshire bowling: (First innings) Lee 14-7-24-3, Willey 5-3-5-0, Kettle 12-4-28-0, Mushtaq Mohammad 24.2-5-79-3, Breakwell 17-5-52-3. (Second innings) Lee 8-2-16-0, Willey 7-1-12-1, Kettle

9-1-28-0, Mushtaq Mohammad 17-3-55-3, Breakwell 12.2-5-26-5.

Umpires:        CS Elliot & C Petrie

COP: (1)    Northamptonshire 325-5.

(2)    Northamptonshire 325-5 dec & 119-2, Hampshire 192.