My Favourite Game

1973 - Hampshire v Northants

August 18th, 20th and 21st - County Championship

Northlands Road, Southampton

Northants 108 and 148 (Mottram 4-27)

Hampshire 167 and 90-3

Result: Hampshire won by 7 wickets

Written by Dave Allen 

There have been so many games over so many years (65 to be precise) and yet when John asked me to choose and write about a game I didn’t hesitate. The context was I suppose just about perfect in that it was my 15th season of watching Hampshire so I had a pretty good idea what English cricket was all about, I was 23 so still young enough to have the enthusiasms of the fan and while I had seen the Hampshire Champions of 1961 I had then been a little too young to comprehend the magnitude of that achievement – and since then despite some fine players and good games there had been no hint of repetition.

Neither was there any great expectation as the 1973 season began. We had a pretty good (!) opening pair and some useful batsmen to come although Greenidge was only in his third full season while Jesty excelled more in limited overs matches back then. Our seam attack had been recruited in some haste to cover the recent departures of three Test players (Shackleton, White & Cottam) and there was very little in reserve. But we had a very fine, captain – perhaps my favourite of them all – and we had ‘Sains’ who knew how to win Championships. If you never saw him, I’m convinced that in every respect he has reincarnated on the cricket field at least in the form of Liam Dawson of recent years.

During the course of the 1973 season we started winning games and if not that we drew them (all three-day games of course) so by early August we were top of the table followed by Northants, with Surrey coming up on the rails. I can recall each day being a mixture of anticipation and anxiety, exhilaration and (brief) dismay; whatever was happening in the rest of my life Hampshire’s cricketers figured more prominently every day. In mid-August Hampshire had a quiet week while Northants and Surrey both won their games in hand, leaving Hampshire 14 points ahead of the midland county who were due at Northlands Road on Saturday 18 August. A win for Hampshire would make them firm favourites for the title but a reverse would throw everything wide open.

I arrived early on the Saturday, sitting in the overflowing pavilion area with my regular pals, Mike & Jenny, John, Ken, perhaps others. It was a heavy overcast day, not at all picturesque and the crowd was huge, anxious yet anticipating and hoping. Southampton was often a run-scoring ground so that morning the visiting captain Jim Watts called correctly and chose to bat. What happened next surely astonished everyone. Northants started carefully and reached 11 before Roy Virgin drove a ball back towards lanky Tom Mottram, never the most agile of fielders, who nonetheless swooped to his right to hold a caught-&-bowled inches from the ground. Northants had some very good players but of their top six only Milburn and Watts reached 13 and they were soon 26-4, then 45-7 and 56-8. After lunch, a brief flurry from Sharp (28) and Bedi (32*) took them beyond three figures but 108 all out was nowhere near good enough with Taylor 4-30 and the other three seamers sharing the wickets.

The atmosphere lightened and the day brightened somewhat after that as Richards and Greenidge (45 each) plus Turner took Hampshire to a lead for the loss of just one wicket but there was a late twist; both openers had gone in identical fashion, stumped Sharp bowled Bedi, then Bob Cottam ‘back home’ knocked over Turner and Gilliat, caught Sainsbury off Bedi and Hampshire struggled to 152-8 at the close. Saturday night and an irrelevant Sunday were suddenly less relaxed, less fun then they might have been.

So we returned on Monday with the game well advanced. Weadded just 15 on a clearer Monday morning and Northants,beginning again 59 runs behind, started well until Hampshire’s left-arm spinner David O’Sullivan worked his magic as Bedi had done. Wickets fell at 34; 40; 71 and 82 and while Geoff Cook (30*) resisted, Greenidge held four catches and O’Sullivan and Mottram had four wickets apiece so that 148 all out left Hampshire a target of just 90.

Would it be straightforward? Cottam got Greenidge almost immediately and then caught Turner off Bedi (16-2) and when the Indian master bowled Jesty it was 49-3 with Gilliat nursing an injury. But Richards (37*) was offering an international standard masterclass against Bedi (14-4-36-2) and with Sainsbury alongside him they won the game around tea-time.

There was still work to do of course but as much as Friday 1 September 1961 which I followed but did not see, this is the game lodged in my memory so vividly even 50+ years later. I am glad then I could not know I would probably never see the like again but at least I did see Hampshire the County Champions.

1972 - Hampshire v Australia

August 17th, 18th and 19th - Tourist Match 

Northlands Road, Southampton

Hampshire 311 (Turner 131, Richards 73) and 184-5 dec. 

Australia 191 (Herman 4-53) and 306 -1 (Watson 176, Stackpole 119*)

Result: Australia won by 9 wickets

Written by Bob Murrell 

When thinking about which Hampshire match is my favourite, two matches immediately came to mind. These were Hampshire v The Australians in 1972 and Hampshire v Nottinghamshire in 2005. I finally decided my favourite of these two was the match v The Australians. This was the first match I had been to and still lives in the memory. It is also the match during which I joined Hampshire County Cricket Club as a member.

The Australians were captained by Ian Chappell and the side included one DK Lillee. Hampshire, captained by Richard Gilliat, won the toss and decided to bat. The outstanding innings was one of 131 by David Turner, who with Barry Richards, put on 125 for the 2nd wicket. Hampshire’s final total was 311. The innings by Turner brought him to the notice of the national selectors, resulting in him  being tipped for a place the first test. Unfortunately he was injured before the selections were announced.

When The Australians batted they had a 48 run opening stand, after which they had a collapse, going from 48-0 to 70-5. They progressed to 153 for 9, still short of the follow on total. There was then a last wicket stand between Ross Edwards, who scored 69 and Denis Lillee that took the score to 191 and past the follow on total. Hampshire then batted again. Overnight they were 135 – 4, a lead of 255 runs. They eventually declared at 184-5 from 52 overs, setting the Australians 305 runs to win.

When the Australians batted John Inverarity, who opened the batting in the first innings, was indisposed so Graeme Watson opened with Keith Stackpole. The two Australian openers set to with relish. My abiding memory of Graeme Watson’s innings was him peppering the pavilion roof with sixes. With the score at 301 and victory in sight Watson was caught by Roy Marshall off Peter Sainsbury for 176. The Australians finished on 306-1, winning by 9 wickets. 

To date that opening stand of 301 is the highest opening stand I have seen. There was a stand of 344 before a wicket fell between Barry Richards, Gordon Greenidge and David Turner v Kent in 1973 in the final match of the season, after we had clinched the Championship, but Richards retired hurt with the score at 241.

So why was this my favourite match? It was a close call between it and the match mentioned above, but it was my first match and had some truly memorable moments. The other match mentioned above v Nottinghamshire was the final match of 2005. The previous week Notts had clinched the championship in a match v Kent. Prior to that match Nottinghamshire, Kent and Hampshire all had a chance of the title. Nottinghamshire came as champions but appeared to be still hung over from celebrating. They put us in and we scored 714-5 dec, our record total. We won by an innings and 188 runs in three days.

1975 - Hampshire v Australia

June 28th, 30th and July 1st - Tourist Match 

Northlands Road, Southampton

Hampshire 351-7 (Richards 96, Turner 87) and 247-3 dec. (Greenidge 73, Richards 69*) 

Australia 344-6 dec. (G Chappell 86) and 256 -6 (I Chappell 127)

Result: Australia won by 4 wickets

Written by Andrew Murtagh 

Barry Richards usually did not play in the tourist matches, preferring to take a few days off from the daily grind (as he saw it) of county cricket. The visit of the Australians was another matter, however. He had developed a strong bond with several of their players in his single season playing for South Australia in 1970-71, when he scored that memorable 325 in a single day against Western Australia. Furthermore, Richard Gilliat was injured, and Barry was to captain the side. There is a lovely picture of him shaking hands with Greg Chappell before the match. He and the Chappell brothers had been team-mates in the South Australian side.

Captain Richards won the toss on a gloriously sunny day, with the old Northlands Road ground filled to the rafters. Some of us worried that the rafters of the creaking, ramshackle pavilion might well crack under the strain. Barry was in the mood; we could usually tell from the first few balls. Attention was focussed how the world’s finest opening bat would cope with the world’s fastest bowler, Jeff Thomson, fresh from the mauling he had given the West Indies in Australia the previous winter. Imperiously, would be the indisputable answer. His hundred was a near-certainty. “Aaargh!” he told me recently, “Caught on the boundary off Higgs going for a six for my 100.” Turner (87) and Jesty (79) joined in the jamboree; I however only managed 12, annoyingly bowled by Mallett. “No decent batsman should ever get bowled,” was another comment vouchsafed me by Barry when I was writing his biography. Quite.

None of the Australians was bowled in their first innings, you will note. They enjoyed the near-faultless pitch as much as the Hampshire batsmen. All made double figures, but nobody ran away with it to score a hundred. I bowled nine wicket-less overs but I did run out Ian Chappell, which gave me much satisfaction, especially in view of what happened later. Having gained parity of score, Chappell declared and once more we, spectators and team-mates alike, settled down to a reprise of a Richards’s masterclass. Except that it ended in a fashion that he, nor anybody else for that matter, would have wished on their worst enemy. He was felled amidships by a Thomson missile and had to be helped from the field, bent double, by a couple of sympathetic Australians. “Hey Richo,” called out Rodney Marsh, as the stretcher party passed by, “Tell ‘em to cure the bruise but keep the swelling!” Barry was in no fit state to reply. The sight of the injured member on inspection back in the dressing room was not one for the faint-hearted. This was our second ‘retired hurt’ of the innings. Thomson had already broken David Turner’s finger. “Jeez!” opined our captain, once he was fit enough to talk, “That guy is seriously fast!” Thanks again, Barry, for that observation, particularly to those about to die.

Thommo was indeed fast, as I discovered when I joined Peter Sainsbury at the wicket. On the scoreboard it said that we were only three wickets down but in effect it was five (neither Richards nor Turner would bat again), so our backs were against the wall. I can truthfully say that the experience as we endured – I hesitate to say ‘enjoyed’ – an unbeaten stand of 63 was probably the most unpleasant I have ever met with on a cricket field. No, it was not dealing with Thommo’s thunderbolts – he was more concerned with where his front foot was landing than sending any more Hampshire players to the A&E Department of Southampton General Hospital – but the vitriol and bile directed at us by the Australian captain. “Have you ever been spoken to like that on a cricket pitch before?” Sainsbury enquired of me in a break between overs. I confessed I had not. In truth, Chappell’s hatefulness was directed more at Sainsbury than me, but still, it left a nasty taste in the mouth. Later, I asked Barry whatever Peter Sainsbury had ever done to upset Ian Chappell in an earlier life. “You must understand,” he answered, “Sains represents all that Chappell hates about the English professional game. Here is Sains, now in his forties, still playing and blocking a path for younger cricketers to take his place. County cricket, he reckons, stultifies progress in the English game.” Whether the venom coming our way stiffened my resolve or not, I cannot say, but I was pleased to be unbeaten when the declaration came.

Whatever I thought about Chappell’s behaviour could not in any way diminish my respect and admiration for him as a batsman; his 127 was largely instrumental in the four-wicket win for the Australians, an object lesson in how to chase down a target. More than 1,200 runs scored over the three sunlit days and was wonderful fare for large and appreciative crowds.

It is a great shame that matches against the tourists, both here and overseas, have largely lost their appeal and relevance. Nowadays, they scarcely feature. Visiting teams prefer net practice or middle games of 12-a-side or some other confected rehearsal for a Test series. This match in 1975 was the real deal. Most of the Australian Test team were in action and our three overseas players, Richards, Greenidge and Roberts, were in their pomp. I look back with some pride on having taken part – not without a modicum of success - in a match that has lived long in my memory. But it did make me think when I consider the enduring feud between Ian Botham and Ian Chappell, still simmering 50 years later, that Beefy may well have had a point.

1971 - Hampshire v Nottinghamshire

John Rice's First Team Debut for Hampshire

April 25th 1971 - John Player League 

Dean Park, Bournemouth

Notts 122-8 (40 overs) Cottam 8-4-13-2, Rice 8-2-22-2

Hampshire 123-4 (32.4 overs) Richards 69

Result: Hampshire won by 6 wickets

Written by John Rice 

BOURNEMOUTH to BOURNEMOUTH 

A ‘bitter sweet symphony’

‘Cricket heroes in fact die with one’s youth. They are pinned like butterflies to the setting board of early 

memories - the time when skies were always blue, the sun shone, and the air was filled with the sounds and scents of grass being cut’. (Alan Ross, Cricket Heroes.)

Bournemouth - Hampshire verses Nottinghamshire. The first John Player League match of the 1971 season, and my Hampshire debut. The sky was blue, the spring sun shone, and the air was filled with expectancy; although the handbook states it was windswept and chilly!

The scene was set - Notts batting, and the match in it’s infancy. Richard Gilliat’s shoulders rolled and I was on, first change. With ball in hand, the hero - my schoolboy hero - was but a few yards away; almost worshipping distance! Was my only ammunition an intricately stitched piece of leather; or was there, lurking, a touch of self belief?

‘Cricket is a game of the most terrifying stresses, with more luck about it than any other game I know.

They call it a team game, but it is the loneliest game of all.’ (John Arlott)

The unknown just seconds away; one last adjustment to the field. 

How would I react - how would I cope?

Why was I exposing myself to potential failure; or maybe success…? The agony of the thought of embarrassing myself in front of so many spectators, the paying public, becoming increasingly overwhelming!

‘The King and I’. 

How would the drama unfold? Could it be music to my ears…

Standing in the wings waiting to make my entrance, would I be able to project, successfully, my first word, the ball?

It was I think the realisation that I, a mere mortal, having just registered from a two month trial, with only a couple of weeks of nets under my belt and only having played a handful of 2nd XI games for Surrey, was to confront a ’god’, that caused a certain amount of apprehension. Would I be able to make the step up? Why was he not nervous, or was he? There was no turning back. The crowd

seemed huge, and frighteningly quiet, all eyes focused on every minute movement. Having languidly checked his guard he looked very relaxed, very loose, very wristy and very left handed!

He also looked like the mighty Gary Sobers!

The next few moments were a blur, or were they in slow motion, or were my eyes closed - or did ‘time, simply, stand still in a distillation of delight’?

(J.M. Kilburn)

It was out of my hands now, literally. The pieces all in place, my first game of chess had just begun, and all on a giant chess board, care of the groundsman’s artistry! Where was the assault to be directed? From where would we fetch leather? Sir Garfield St Aubrun erred on the side of caution I feel, as it would not have been prudent of him to be bowled out by ‘a new kid on the block’! His bat sounded awful too. Maybe he just couldn’t get it off the square…

Eight overs two for twenty two. Certainly a defining moment!

This is the summary of John's debut in the 1972 Hampshire Handbook: "A wintry wind swept Dean Park arena and chilled the double-sweatered players and overcoated crowd of some 3,000. Notts won the toss and batted, but Hampshire grabbed three early wickets and maintained the pressure. Sobers and Smedley added 64 in 17.4 overs , but this was the only bright spot of the innings. Rice, playing his first game for Hampshire when Sainsbury reported unfit, took the vital wicket of Smedley. Hampshire's reply was unspectacular as Stead and Taylor restricted Richards and Greenidge to 22 in the first ten overs. At 79-3 and 24 overs gone, drizzle swept in from the sea. Richards responded, completing his own 50 with his ninth four. He went at 102 and then Jesty hit two delightful boundaries in quick succession and a smartly run three ensured victory."

• For the record John's two wickets were: M.J. Smedley ct Greenidge b Rice 32 and (a certain) M.N.S. Taylor c & b Rice 10

1982 - Hampshire v Warwickshire

John Rice's Last Game for Hampshire

September 12th  - John Player League 

Dean Park, Bournemouth

Warwicks 166-6 (40 overs) Tremlett 8-0-20-2, Jesty 8-1-23-2

Hampshire 170-6 (39 overs) 

Result: Hampshire won by 4 wickets

Written by John Rice 

BOURNEMOUTH to BOURNEMOUTH 

A ‘bitter sweet symphony’

Twelve seasons elapsed before Bournemouth once again beckoned.

But before the final curtain,

‘Could a cricket career be equated to a grand symphony? A composition of experiences, emotion, and interconnected moments that create a harmonious melody. From the first notes of birth to the final crescendo of departure, each individual plays a unique instrument in this extraordinary orchestra’.

It was not to reach it’s ‘crescendo of departure’, but ended with a bit of a whimper…Twelfth man duties were part and parcel of playing, and expected, however having been left out of the side on the Saturday was a surprise and was to say the least a little disappointing...       Being dropped minutes before the start, some might say was a little insensitive, especially it having been agreed that I would play in the last two Schweppes Championship Matches!

So to my final match!

Hampshire v Warwickshire. The last Sunday League Match of the 1982 season was to be, therefore, the termination of my journey; a somewhat circuitous route. A long distance trek, full of pleasant rambles, stiff hill climbs, especially when bowling uphill into the wind, and some major hiking with what seemed at times a very heavy pack.

J.C. Snaith remarked, ‘Cricket is quite a harmless gentle game, but he is a lucky man who has not to sweat some blood before he’s done with it’.

Many a true word…

When leaving the Dean Park arena for what was to be the last time in a Hampshire sweater, these words from Eric N. Simon certainly resonated.

‘Village cricketers are too kindly to drop you with abruptness at the end of your career’!

‘There ought to be some other means of reckoning quality in this the best and loveliest game, the scoreboard is an ass’, (Sir Neville Cardus)

With helmet and bat held aloft and with a tear in my eye the waste paper basket loomed; stationed at the entrance to the pavilion it seemed to be the obvious receptacle for what was now to be a redundant piece of finely tuned willow! 

It was the end, an end without an end!

John Winter writes in 2024

It was the end of a brilliant eleven year career with Hampshire at the strongest time in the Club's history. John Rice's career was also arguably at a time when all the domestic competitions were being played at the highest ever level in the past one hundred and thirty years: so many of the world's best players were over here every (and all) summer, enriching each of the seventeen county teams. England players were also always available for their county sides, when not on international duty, throughout that period. Between 1971 and 1982, Hampshire won the Championship in 73, the John Player League twice in 75 and 78, the Fenner Trophy three times and the Tilcon Trophy - not to mention a number of other second and third place finishes in the Championship and Sunday League. Just reflecting on John's contribution to Hampshire's Sunday successes, he finished his career sixth in the all time Hampshire run-scorers list at the end of the 1982 season, with 1565 runs and a top score of 91. Only Richards, Turner, Greenidge, Jesty and Gilliat had made more Sunday runs than John when that bat went in the bin! 

As for John's contribution with the ball, he was even higher in the Hampshire total wickets list. His 125 wickets in 127 appearances (at 24.61 each) made him third on the list after the 1982 season. Only Jesty and Sainsbury had taken more. In terms of four-wicket hauls and a share of the annual JPL prize-money, only Jesty and Mottram had more than John's five. Finally, John was the only fielder - apart from a wicket keeper - in the history of the John Player League (1969-1986) to take five catches in an innings. He took those 5 against Warwickshire in 1975 at Southampton. Only Gilliat and Greenidge took more catches in the JPL than John's final tally of 48 by the end of the 1982 season. I know John will not mind me saying this is probably the only time John was the equal of Barry Richards (who also held 48 catches on Sundays) ! The serious point is that none of these statistics includes John's contributions in the one-day cups or his fine first-class career. He was part of a quintet of all-rounders, with Peter Sainsbury, Trevor Jesty, Mike Taylor and Nigel Cowley, who gave any Hampshire team in the 1970's incredible balance, experience, know-how, skill and amazing ability to compete and win against all opponents on all pitches. 

John Rice's place is definitely assured in the club's history as a rich entertainer, whole-hearted competitor and serious winner. Having met John in person for the first time only last May, it has been a privilege to write this very small tribute to a former playing hero and very proud ex-Hampshire cricketer, with such a warm and endearing personality. On behalf of so many Hampshire supporters, who were fortunate to see him play, he was as tall in stature as he was physically, when he matched up against any of his opponents on the field. Every run scored, every wicket taken and every catch held was one more than all of us could have dreamed of achieving and we hold all of his achievements in that unbelievably talented and entertaining squad very close to our hearts. For us as supporters, it was never an end without an end, and so I will just "end" with the sentence in the 1983 Handbook chronicling John's last appearance. 'John Rice received generous applause on his last appearance for Hampshire, but suffered a cruelly brilliant return catch by Lethbridge to end his innings, returning to a standing ovation....."

2012 - Hampshire v Warwickshire

September 15th  - Clydesdale Bank Final 

Lord's Cricket Ground, London

Hampshire  244-5 (40 Overs) Adams 66, Ervine 57

Warwickshire 244-7 (40 overs) Wood 3-39

Result: Hampshire won by losing fewer wickets with scores level

Written by Glen Williams 

Unforgettable Last Ball Win

Encouraged by Dave Allen’s 75 Not Out, I’ve decided reluctantly to put pen to paper to record my favourite match. Why reluctantly? Well scribing is not my favourite pastime, but more importantly my memory of details of individual matches is poor at the best of times. That said I have chosen the match below not just for the tightest of tight results on a very tight day, but also because it was a fabulous day out at Lords, my favourite ground. As I’m sure you all know, to be guaranteed you don’t miss the start of day one of a Test match at  Lords it means setting off from the South by 8.30 latest. 

Fortunately this final started at 11.30 and gave us a bit more time. It still meant an early train for us though, or we would miss the ritual beginning of any match at Lord's and one of the best bits of the day for me. That is breakfast at Fego Caffe in St John's Wood. A little haven of breakfast delights very close to the ground. It was my son George’s first visit to Lords and we met up with Pete and Rodger, two old friends from my working life in the wine and spirits trade. Pete. is a Hampshire fan living in Twickenham. and Rodger, for his sins, is a Leicestershire fan. Breakfast completed it was time for one of my next favourite things about Lords. To my knowledge, it is the only ground in the country where you are still able to take a bottle of wine into the ground. For those that work in the wine trade this is especially good news and we carried in three bottles of delicious Charles Heidsieck champagne.

So onto the cricket. Let’s not forget that Warwickshire had already won the 2012 Division 1 Championship this year and Hampshire ended up just above mid table in Division 2. However Hampshire were more than holding their own in the white ball formats and had already secured the T20  cup just three weeks earlier. So the final was an intriguing prospect with no clear favourite. Two teams already holding trophies and Hampshire batted first in what turned out to be an entrancing match right to its final ball conclusion. Michael Carberry and James Vince both got off to a good start until Vince fell in the 6th over and Carberry fell in the 10th. Neil Mckenzie was next to go but fine half centuries from our captain Jimmy Adams and Zimbabwe born Sean Ervine, along with a quick 35 from Simon Katich, helped Hampshire reach a defendable score of 244 for 5. Remember the 5 as it is really important!

Warwickshire must have gone into their innings believing they were slight favourites but a regular fall of wickets supported by a majestic 88 from Ian Bell meant the game was hanging in the balance for their entire innings. The good news from a Hampshire perspective was the run rate was creeping up. Depending on whether you are glass half full or glass half empty Warwickshire needed 27 runs from the last three overs  and then only 7 from the last over. I have to say I’m normally glass half full but with 7 needed my glass was feeling decidedly empty. The atmosphere in the ground was electric and the last over felt like it took forever and this is because it did! Kabir Ali was given the challenging task of bowling this over. Ali bowled exceptionally well and took a wicket for only 2 runs in his first 4 balls. It was now down to 5 runs required off 2 balls for Warwickshire to lift the trophy. 

My glass was now feeling half full again. The Hampshire team took an age to set the field for the incoming batsmen Carter and I was confident the cup was ours. Carter had other ideas and timed the penultimate ball for 4 completely emptying my imaginary glass! The scores were now level and Warwickshire now needed one solitary run from the very last ball to lift the cup. The tension and also the noise was unbelievable. Here we were, three Hampshire fans and one adopted Hampshire fan for the day, having watched almost 80 overs of cricket still not knowing who was going to win. The Hampshire  players took an age to decide where they were going to field and decided upon the bees round a honey pot approach as they surrounded Carter. Ali comes in to bowl the very last ball of the match and Carter swipes and misses. Michael Bates takes arguably his most important take of the match and the scores remain level………………………or not quite. Remember, Hampshire had scored 244 for 5 and Warwickshire had now scored 244 for 7. So in a match that nobody deserved to lose Hampshire won the cup by virtue of losing fewer wickets. The Hampshire fans including us were delirious with joy and I decided to swap my imaginary glass for a real one and continue the celebration. This time my glass was completely full!

1978 - Hampshire v Middlesex

September 3rd  - John Player League (Final Game of the Season) 

Dean Park Ground, Bournemouth

Hampshire  221-4 (40 Overs) Greenidge 122

Middlesex 195 (38 overs) Jesty 7-0 -32-5

Result: Hampshire won by 26 runs

Written by Neil Vacher 

Gilliat signs off in style with a second Sunday League success

How long is 20 minutes - if you were a Hampshire player or supporter?

As the 1978 season neared its conclusion, Hampshire’s chances of winning a trophy rested in the John Player League (JPL), the 40 overs a side competition that had first been introduced to the county circuit in 1969. A week before the final fixtures were due to take place, Hampshire beat Kent at Southampton to keep the pressure on leaders Somerset who also won on the same day. After maintaining a strong challenge throughout the summer, Richard Gilliat’s side remained four points, or one victory, behind their west country rivals. Somerset would take the title if they won or tied their last match at Taunton, but if Hampshire could win their last game against Middlesex at Dean Park, Bournemouth, their away record and run rate could not be bettered should Somerset slip up.

During the season, Hampshire had parted company with international stars Barry Richards and Andy Roberts and in the run-in, much had depended on the character of the side in covering their absences, particularly that of Roberts, whose performances with bat and ball had been an important factor in at least four victories in the 40-over competition. Five JPL matches had remained when Richards and Roberts left but valuable contributions from other members of the side at vital times ensured that Hampshire remained in contention. Gilliat had stepped up to open the innings in Richards’ absence, whilst Gordon Greenidge, totally loyal to the county who discovered him almost a decade previously, accepted the extra responsibility placed on his shoulders. I had been present when Greenidge made his first-class debut for Hampshire in 1970 and had seen his initial raw talent develop into that of a world class batsman. He was without doubt my favourite cricketer at the time and so exciting to watch.

My first experience of watching county cricket had been at Dean Park earlier that year and I fell in love with the game and the ground from that moment on. I saw Hampshire claim a second County Championship there in 1973 and the following year, whilst attending Portchester School in Bournemouth, had been fortunate enough to play there for the school first eleven on several occasions. The summer of 1978 had been notable by my absence however, as I had undergone knee surgery in April. After spending six weeks in hospital and a further six in plaster, Sunday 3 September was quite a day for me as it was the first time since then I had managed to get to the ground under my own steam. The surgery had not been without its complications, and I had previously needed the assistance of a wheelchair and then crutches before being finally dropping down to a walking stick as my recovery neared competition.

On a beautiful warm and sunny September afternoon,the ground was packed, with around 6,000 people in attendance, and the atmosphere was electric. Could the occasion provide the perfect send off to captain Gilliat in his last game before handing over the reins to fellow championship winner, wicketkeeper Bob Stephenson? First to step forward was indeed Greenidge, who played one of his finest one-day innings for Hampshire. He took part in two decisive partnerships which allowed the side to build what was a sizeable total at the time. He and Gilliat began with an opening stand of 100 in 24 overs and then later, assisted by Trevor Jesty, Greenidge helped to add 120 for the third wicket before both were out in the final over. 

Greenidge’s innings of 122 was one of brutal power and included five 6’s as Hampshire reached 221-4 at the end of their 40 overs. It was Greendige’s second JPL century of the season and brought the personal number of runs he had scored in the county’s last five JPL games to 339.

But Middlesex, led by England captain Mike Brearley and with seven players with Test match experience in their side, responded well and looked threatening as Clive Radley and Norman Featherstone began with an opening partnership of 77. The score had risen to 126-1, when Gilliat made a tactical decision to concede singles but defend the boundaries and the pressure this caused eventually told. Jesty came on to bowl and changed the picture entirely by taking a wicket in each of his first four overs. He went on to produce a match winning spell which saw him take 5-32, including the vital dismissal of Featherstone to a brilliant tumbling outfield catch by substitute fielder David Rock. Fine fielding also brought three run outs and a slick stumping from wicketkeeper Bob Stephenson as Hampshire eventually ran out comfortable winners by 26 runs.

I was amongst the crowd of people who made their way onto the pitch to congratulate the players before assembling in front of the pavilion to await news of the result from Taunton. The players soon went into the dressing room to watch the final overs on TV before, after a nail biting wait of some 25 minutes, the news came through that Somerset had lost and by virtue of a higher run rate throughout the season, Hampshire were champions. The cheering crowd eventually saw Gilliat receive a replica of the trophy and success was sweet. After the departure of Richards and Roberts, it had been a test of character, and the players came through with great credit to win the JPL title for the second time in four seasons. It was also a fitting end to Richard Gilliat’s period in charge and he could now retire with one championship and two JPL successes under his captaincy. It should have been two championships of course, were it not for that woeful week of wet weather that had cruelly denied Hampshire the title in 1974. But at least this final opportunity had been taken to add a further trophy to a very successful period in the club’s history.  

Since then, there have been many Hampshire games and moments that I have been fortunate enough to enjoy at first hand, although unfortunately I was not present for any of their one-day cup final successes, just the defeat against Durham at Lords in 2007. Nonetheless, I have been lucky enough to see many world class players wear the Hampshire crest at first hand and, now semi-retired, I can at last spend even more time watching them. I find the current brand of Hampshire cricket just as exciting as it has always been and I’m sure the club can look forward to enjoying even more success in the future.

1985 - Somerset v Hampshire 

August 7th, 8th  - National Westminster Bank Trophy: Quarter-Final 

Taunton

Hampshire  299-5 (60 Overs) RA Smith 110 VP Terry 105

Somerset 150 all out (39.2 overs) NG Cowley 3-41

Result: Hampshire won by 149 runs

Written by Anthony Gibson 

Sun stops play, Botham walks off, Smith and Terry take Hampshire through to the semi-finals!

Recent encounters between Hampshire and Somerset have tended to be either rather dull or one-sided, usually in Hampshire’s favour, and most fatefully the game in September 2019 at the Ageas Bowl, when Kyle Abbott took 17 wickets and all but destroyed Somerset’s Championship chances. So I’m going back to 1985 for my most memorable contest, and the NatWest quarter-final at Taunton in August of that year.  I was there in two capacities.  On the first of what turned out to be two days of cricket – of which more anon – I was the scorer for the BBC’s commentator, a certain Henry Blofeld, who I had first worked with some 12 years previously, and with whom I got on well. He had plenty to talk about! The summer of 1985 was miserably wet, and I wasn’t unduly sorry to have to break into my golfing holiday at Saunton in North Devon, to drive back to Taunton.  Sure enough, the County Ground was distinctly damp after overnight rain and by the scheduled start time of 10.30, a greenish pitch had been cut but not rolled. By that time, Ian Botham had already won the toss and put Hampshire in on what looked a very green pitch.  But Mark Nicholas, as sharp then as he is now, knew the regulations and insisted that, as the start was delayed, he was entitled to have the heavy roller applied for seven minutes.  Botham begged to differ.  The umpires were involved and they decided to refer the matter to Lord’s, who ruled in Nicholas’ favour.

And so to the cricket, with precious little love already lost between the two teams.  Hampshire made a poor start and at 51/3 were in trouble, Mark Davis’ fast left arm swing having accounted for Chris Smith for 3, a fact I mention not just because of its significance at the time, but because Mark has since become my regular BBC summariser for one day cricket and has worked many times alongside myself and Kevan James on games between our two counties.  It should really have been even better for Somerset, as Joel Garner at slip dropped Paul Terry off Botham when he was on 9, a lapse that would cost his side a further 96 runs, as Terry and Robin Smith put together a partnership of 144 to carry Hampshire most of the way to a formidable 299 in their 60 overs.    I remember they offered a lovely contrast:  Terry neatly working the ball into the gaps and strong through the leg side, Robin Smith wielding his big bat as if it was a broadsword, thumping the ball massively through the covers.

Needing what would then have been a record score to win, Somerset started disastrously, against a Hampshire attack of Malcolm Marshall, Cardigan Connor, Tim Tremlett, Mark Nicholas and Nigel Cowley’s off-spin.  After a break for rain, but with blue sky overhead, Somerset had slumped to 43/5 by 7.45, when Botham, who had just come in and had yet to score, said something to the umpires and promptly marched off, taking a bemused Vic Marks with him.  It turned out that Botham was protesting about the difficulty of seeing the ball when he was allegedly being blinded by sunshine reflecting off a nearby corrugated iron roof!  Mark Nicholas objected and, for the second time that day, the umpires decided to consult Lord’s, the only problem being that by that time of the evening, no-one was answering the phone at HQ.

So a halt was indeed called; one of those very rare occasions – and I’m sure Dave Allen could name others - when sun had stopped play.  A capacity crowd was not amused, but there was, for me at least, a silver lining, in that I was contacted up by Peter Baxter to be asked if I could commentate on day two, as Henry had to be elsewhere.  No problem at all, I replied!  And I did have some good cricket to describe as Botham and Marks put together a defiant partnership of 81, before Marshall and Cowley polished things off, to leave Hampshire the winners by 148 runs. It wasn’t the finest hour of that magnificent Somerset team, by any means, but it certainly provided some memories, as well as an extra day’s work for a very junior commentator, who was able to return to his golf later that same day, happy in a job well done.

2015 - Nottinghamshire v Hampshire

September 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 25th - County Championship Division One Final Game 

Trent Bridge

Notts 340 (92.3 overs) Patel 104, Edwards 6-88

Hampshire  326 (89.5 overs) Dawson 69

Notts 185 (62 overs) Edwards 4-57

Hampshire 200-2 (53.3 overs)

Result: Hampshire won by 8 Wickets

Written by Terry Crump

Survival in Division One for both Hampshire and Sussex on a Knife Edge!

It was the last game of the 2015 season, with survival in Division One on a knife edge. Hampshire, relegated in 2011, promoted in 2014, started 2015 optimistically. Then the realisation that the ease with which we dominated Division Two was not to be repeated. Hampshire or Sussex would be relegated. Hampshire’s survival depended on the last game at Trent Bridge. 

The Notts Committee Room exuded confidence; they were still in the race to the top!

Nottinghamshire’s first innings (340) saw Rikki Wessell’s masterful innings of 104 finished when Sean Ervine had him caught by Gareth Berg. Fidel Edwards was on fire. Watching his extraordinary action bring him six wickets was more than enough entertainment to make the journey up the M1 to West Bridgeford worthwhile. Hampshire then replied with 326 to trail Notts by 14, Gareth Berg making a very carefully crafted 72.

Sussex were still going toe to toe with the ‘Yorkies’. All to play for on Day Three. I wasn’t that positive. Bill Taylor, the Notts fast bowler in the 1970’s, reassured me saying, “I’ve seen us (Notts) bat in the second innings this season, Hampshire will be fine.”

Notts got to 150 with only three down. Then Ryan Stevenson started the rot, taking the wicket of Rikki Wessells. Fidel Edwards was running in like a train, that menacing arm action threatening to dismiss even the most steadfast batter. Notts went from 151/4 to 178/8 in the blink of an eye! Then it was all over, with ‘Fiery Fidel’ getting a match ‘tenfer’, taking Read, Root and Broad in seven balls. The crucial wicket of Brendan Taylor (passing 1000 runs for the season as he braved it out) went to Liam Dawson, caught by James Vince.

With 200 to win, Carberry and Adams had reduced the lead to the infamous ‘Nelson’ (111) at stumps on Day Three. At start of play on the fourth day, I wasn’t optimistic; it had been a season of disappointments. However, ‘Carbs’ went on to make 84 no. ‘Bison’ was bowled by Ball and nerves jangled, with ‘Vincey’ bowled, again by Ball, for a Golden Duck. Will Smith joined Carberry to see out the innings at 200/2. A magical win.

Meanwhile ninety miles to the North, Sussex were still fighting. What really makes this my favourite game? Travelling home down the M1, a passenger in my good friend Alan Head’s car, listening to the radio commentary of the Sussex game. Suddenly we were directly behind ‘Bergy’ as he made his victorious return to Hampshire. At Headingley, Michael Yardy, in his last appearance, was making a resolute stand with Ben Brown. As the final wickets tumbled, Alan Head flashed his headlights at every wicket, while ‘Bergy’ waved various items of clothing from his window. When the final wicket tumbled both cars had horns blasting. Were Sussex relegated because they lost? No, they ‘went down’ because we won. It helped that we beat them at Hove that year in another match that was a close runner to my favourite game.

1983 - Hampshire v Surrey

July 10th  - John Player League (Gordon Greenidge Benefit Game)

Portsmouth 

Hampshire  292-1 (40 overs) Jesty 166*, Greenidge 108*

Surrey 188-5 (40 overs) Cowley 4-42

Result: Hampshire won by 104 runs

Written by Richard Drennan

Jesty's Jamboree!

Don’t get me wrong, I loved watching Chris Smith bat. While lacking most of the natural flair of his legendary brother, Chris was an exceptionally consistent and reliable opening batsman, who was determined to make the most of every ounce of his cricketing talent. Averaging mid-forties in first class cricket, with over 15,000 runs and 40 centuries, peaking in 1985 with an astonishing 2,000 runs and 7 hundreds, Chris got Hampshire off to consistent start after consistent start, first alongside Gordon Greenidge and later Paul Terry. From 1980-1991, I spent countless hours admiring his technique, determination, application and productivity.   

But on a sunny afternoon in July 1983, I just wanted him to get out.

My Favourite Hampshire Game is not one of vital importance, not one that delivered silverware to the club, not even a first-class game. But for sheer entertainment for a 19-year-old fan, it lives in my memory as if it was yesterday. It was one of those rare sporting occasions that went as perfectly as even the most optimistic fan could hope. I had drafted a mental script of how the afternoon should proceed and, just for once, heroes, antagonists and supporting cast alike followed it to the letter. Since it was John Winter who devised this “My Favourite Hampshire Game” series and asked me to write about mine, it is fitting that it was John who accompanied me to the United Service Ground in Portsmouth on Sunday, July 10, 1983, for a John Player League game between Hampshire and Surrey. 

In 1983, Trevor Jesty was the darling of the Hampshire batting line up – no mean feat for a line-up that included Greenidge. Coming off a summer in 1982 that included 8 first class centuries, Jesty was at the height of his powers. Those centuries included 164 not out against the touring Indians at Southampton plundering an attack that included Kapil Dev and Madan Lal, but even that was surpassed by his 133 against Pakistan at Bournemouth where he made the mercurial Abdul Qadir look less than ordinary, arriving at the crease with Hampshire wobbling at 3/2. It was this impressive showing that inspired a naïve teenager to write to Peter May as Chairman of the England selectors bemoaning his selection of the underperforming Gatting, Pringle and Greig ahead of providing Jesty with the test cap that his performances so richly deserved. Although I was convinced that my carefully crafted epistle would be impossible to ignore, the predictable response was only the dismissive template “Thank you for your comments” and Jesty’s test cap sadly never materialized.  Those international disappointments were however put aside for the JPL game against Surrey the following July. The game was earmarked as Greenidge’s well-deserved testimonial game, and attended by over 4,000 people,but it was Trevor Jesty that stole the show. 

That afternoon, Jesty was listed at number 3 in the batting line up, and that brings me back to Chris Smith. Surrey won the toss and Roger Knight inexplicably asked Hampshire to bat. Hampshire opened the batting with Smith and Greenidge, a tried, tested and successful combination, but it was Jesty we had come to watch. So for 5 overs, I reluctantly willed Smith to experience a rare failure and make way for the main act, but I was nevertheless surprised when a Dave Thomas delivery beat his textbook defense and removed the off stump. Jesty strode to the wicket at 23/1 and the stage was set. What followed was remarkable. 

35 overs later, Greenidge had reached a fine 108 not out from 101 balls, this being his 4th hundred in an incredible run of 6 centuries over 17 days in all formats. However, the Portsmouth Evening News headline of “England reject upstages Gordon” tells you everything you need to know. In a spectacular unbeaten Hampshire record partnership of 269, Jesty smashed 166 not out from just 128 balls, including 18 fours and 3 sixes, and the records tumbled.  My watching companion, typically, had all the relevant stats at his fingertips. Having reached only 4, Jesty became the first man in the John Player League competition history to achieve the double of 4,000 runs and 200 wickets; on reaching 59 with a straight six off Pat Pocock, Greenidge became Hampshire’s highest total runscorer in the competition surpassing Barry Richards’ total of 4,770; at 143, the partnership set a new Hampshire best for the 2nd wicket; the 269 partnership was the 2nd highest ever in the competition, only behind that achieved by Graham Gooch and Ken McEwan for Essex the previous week.  Jesty’s superlative 166 was three more than Greenidge’s own Hampshire record in 40 over competition, although the great West Indian was to wrestle that record back in 1987 against the same opponents. Having reached a run a ball 50, Jesty took only 38 more balls to reach his century and then only 40 more to get to 166. Other than giving a difficult half chance on 123, he was in complete control, executing a series of exquisite lofted drives to, or over, the boundary. Surrey had run out of ideas and even the fearsome Sylvester Clarke was put to the sword. For 116 unforgettable minutes, the entertainment was as good as it gets for a Hampshire fan.

Chasing a huge target of 293, Surrey, despite a bright start, never came close and Hampshire’s victory was by a conclusive 104 runs, with Nigel Cowley chipping in with a career best 4/42 and Malcolm Marshall’s 7 overs only conceding a miserly 14 runs.  

To my great sadness, a year later Jesty had departed for Surrey having been overlooked for the club captaincy. The rarity of Hampshire born players at the club over my years of watching is lamentable and as a local Gosport lad, Jesty was an understandable crowd favourite. I would have loved to see him complete the last 7 years of his career as a one-county player. Fortunately for me and other Hampshire fans, the void left by Trevor in Hampshire’s middle order was about to be filled by a certain Robin Smith!

Despite some worthy contenders over the years, the vivid memories of Jesty’s heroics have kept that John Player League contest as My Favourite Game for 41 years. One such contender would be Kyle Abbott’s astonishing 17/86 game against title-chasing Somerset in 2019, where majestic centuries from current club legends Vince and Dawson in a low-scoring match barely get a mention due to Abbott’s heroics. All matches would have undoubtedly been surpassed in 2021 had Matt Parkinson failed to survive 2 balls from a rampant Mason Crane at Aigburth in a finish to a game so dramatic that I was reduced to a gibbering wreck as I realized the enormity of what I was watching. Alas, it was not to be, so for the time being, Jesty Rules!

1969 - Hampshire v Northants

August 27th, 28th and 29th  

Bournemouth 

Northants 325-5 dec. (110 overs) Mushtaq 154*

Hampshire 192 (72.2 overs) Richards 127*

Northants 149-8 dec. (52 overs) White 4-45

Hampshire 143 (53.2 overs)

Result: Northants won by 139 runs

Written by Charles Dusting

Barry playing a different game from everyone else!

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 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.

1977 - Hampshire v Gloucestershire

Benson and Hedges Cup Semi-Final

June 22nd  

Southampton 

Gloucestershire 180 (54.2 overs)

Hampshire 173 (54.3 overs)

Result: Gloucs won by 7 runs

Man of the Match: Mike Proctor

Written by Garry Lane

Proctorshire just too good on the day!

My favourite game was a Benson & Hedges semi-final v Gloucestershire in June 1977. This obviously was a very important match. There was a very good crowd who contributed to an electric atmosphere. 

This game is so memorable because it included the finest spell of fast bowling I have ever seen. The bowler was Mike Proctor of Gloucestershire. He was bowling from the 'Stadium end' with his run up starting just in front of the sight screen. It was absolutely devastating. His style was quite unique, delivering off the 'wrong foot'.

He dismissed both Greenidge and Richards (no mean feat) and went on to get 4 wicket in 5 balls, ending up with figures of 5-13. Despite this Hampshire put up a good fight and lost by only 7 runs with the last wicket to fall with 3 more balls remaining of the last over. A fantastic game of cricket. 

Another game which came close was the 1975 Gillette Cup match at The County Ground v Glamorgan. Hampshire scored 371-4 ( which was considered a massive score at the time) What is memorable was the opening stand of 210 between Richards and Greenidge. Their contrasting styles were a joy to watch. Richards was all about superb timing, Greenidge immense power. Richards scored 129 and Greenidge 177 which included 7 sixes and 17 fours. Hampshire bowled Glamorgan out for 207 and won comfortably by 164 runs.  

1973 - Lancashire v Hampshire 

July 25th, 26th, 27th 

Southport & Birkdale Cricket Club

Lancashire 214 (88.1 overs) Mottram 3-32

Hampshire 388-9 (116.5 overs) Greenidge 153, Richards 128

Lancashire 1oo (54.4 overs) Jesty 5-24, Mottram 3-38

Result: Hants won by an innings and 74 runs

Written by Richard Griffiths (HCH Chair)

Recalling one of the best opening partnerships ever to grace the English game!

The Hampshire game that I remember above all others (and there are many) is the first 3 day game I believe I ever saw them play. It was in the second Championship winning season of 1973 at my home cricket club - Southport and Birkdale. Previously, I had been to watch International Cavaliers games with my father who was a very keen cricket fan. We had moved up to Lancashire from Worcestershire (who he followed closely) through his work. He then adopted Lancashire as his favourite county, but I was not to follow suit. Watching cricket at an outground from the comfort of a deckchair at Southport was, though, a real delight, particularly as I played junior age group cricket for Southport Cricket Club. Tom Mottram, as a local to the area, had previously played league cricket for Southport and I watched most of that game in July 1973, while sitting in one of the many deckchairs on the boundary edge with his family. It immediately gave me an affinity for Hampshire; he certainly bowled really well in both innings. 

My clear memory over fifty years later is that both Richards and Greenidge made brilliant hundreds. They put on exactly two hundred together, and I just recall that the most likely way they both looked like getting out was from a run out. They just made it look so easy, especially against the pace of Peter Lever. 'Flat' Jack (Simmons), whom I also always enjoyed watching, ended up taking seven wickets in Hampshire's only innings. He was always a favourite cricketer of mine and did eventually remove Greenidge for 153 and Richards for 128. Trevor Jesty then bowled Lancashire out very cheaply second time around. I was especially struck by watching the difference in quality between Tom bowling for Southport in the Liverpool Combination and then taking the new ball here to David Lloyd and Barry Wood. What he lacked in pace, compared with Peter Lever for example, he made up for with accuracy and control. Hampshire were now my team, Greenidge was my new hero and I celebrated their Championship success just a month or so later. My grandfather, who was a big Worcestershire fan, certainly gave me grief on the phone a year later when the weather played a huge part in Hampshire not retaining their crown. Finally, I also recall that the Southport game in 1973 ended quickly on the third day. Checking the scorecard all these years later, it does show that Lancashire went from 98-5 to 100 all out in their second innings. None of Bob Ratcliffe, Peter Lever or Peter Lee troubled the scorers, as Jesty mopped up the tail. My love for Hampshire was firmly cemented and  - at my next game at Worcester  - Gordon again made another hundred. I may not have made many runs for Southport myself but, as well as playing there, it was here that I first saw Hampshire hammer Lancashire on the way to the title. They have been my favourite team ever since.

Footnote on the game by the HCH Website editor:

Exactly 40 years later, Lancashire hosted Hampshire again at Southport in a Championship game in 2013. In a match progamme, especially produced for that game, Paul Edwards, the very fine Times and Cricketer Magazine writer, recalled that partnership between Richards and Greenidge (which Richard was so fortunate to watch back in 1973). He was also there at the ground, as a young Lancashire supporter, for the game and wrote, "Richards was the bigger, taller man, but his bulk concealed the most felicitous ability to time a cricket ball. Greenidge, by contrast, had the slighter build yet his compact frame contained ferocious strength. Richards batted as if he was trying to tame the ball, Greenidge as if he was punishing it for something. Persuasion and power: it was a heady cocktail and one which drew the crowds wherever it was mixed and served. Spectators were both shaken and stirred."  Paul, just like Richard lived in Southport at the time; it still remains his local cricket club. On the theme of Mottram and Simmons, Paul added that spectators at Southport recognised the special affinity and attraction of watching club cricketers from their own leagues do battle in the middle with true greats. Unlike Paul, who still follows Lancashire with great passion, Richard, all these years later, travels up and down the country following his beloved Hampshire. His first game - as is the case for lots of county cricket fans - remains his favourite. It just happens to have been a very significant and one-sided one where Hampshire trounced a very good Lancashire side in their own back yard. 2024 is, of course, the first time since 1973 that this was again the case (when Liam Dawson' heroics with both bat and bat meant Hampshire beat Lancashire away again by an innings). Hampshire wins - of any description in championship cricket either home or away - against Lancashire over the past fifty years have been a rarity; that recent resounding win at Old Trafford was definitely long overdue. As for the memories of watching Richards and Greenidge put 200 on together, they are simply ones you never forget - whoever you supported at the time!

1987 - Kent v Hampshire 

Refuge Assurance League

August 30th 

The Mote, Maidstone

Hampshire 234-3 (40 overs) Smith CL 76*, Turner 45

Kent 167 (36.5 overs) Ayling 3-30

Result: Hants won by 67 runs

Written by Jon Ayling

Playing against a childhood hero in my first game!

Trying to recall my favourite Hampshire game, it is hard to look past the three Lord's Finals I was very lucky to take part in. Each was very special in its own way. In many ways, it is also much easier to recall my favourite game as a young fan before I ever played for Hampshire. In that regard, Trevor Jesty's majestic 96 at Portsmouth in the John Player League in 1980 immediately springs to mind. He took a very good attack apart that day in a game reduced, because of the bad weather, to no more than 20 overs. Funnily enough, it was the disappointment of him missing out on a hundred - out to a fantastic diving catch by Botham in the covers (if memory serves me correctly) - that I can visualise most clearly. Portsmouth was such a special ground for me. It was where I first watched Hampshire as a youngster. My parents would drop me off with friends for the day at the County Ground near the Hard, with a packed lunch and tea that was invariably all eaten before a ball was bowled. We would also always try and sit neat the pavilion to see the players come out. Portsmouth was renowned for its sporting wicket and the look on players' faces going out to face Surrey's Sylvester Clarke with just a cap on stayed with me even during my playing days. Sadly, I was just too young to see Barry Richards, but my Dad certainly told me how good a player he was. Instead, I had to make do with the likes of Gordon (Greenidge) and Trevor who were so often box office at Portsmouth in those days as an impressionable young Hampshire supporter. Malcolm Marshall of course was another hero of mine, along with David Gower and the late Derek Underwood for England. 

My first Lord's Final in 1988 against Derbyshire was so special for the club. I was very much the youngster in the side and it could not have gone better on the day. Rod Bransgrove always says I top-edged the six into the tavern late on during that successful run chase against a very strong Surrey side in the 1991 Nat West Final. Again it was just a brilliant day for the club.Tony Middleton batted brilliantly; the Test class battle between Robin Smith and Waqar Younis was truly fantastic just to watch from 22 yards away in the setting sun.  The players, our families and the supporters on the ground savoured all three finals in '88, '91 and '92. The Kent Final in '92, where Malcolm finally received his winner's medal, was certainly a quieter affair (when it had to be completed on the Sunday). Given how short my Hampshire career was - because of the knee injury sustained in that pre-season friendly soon after - I regard all three of those Lord's Finals as highlights. Having had slightly longer, though, to consider the question of what my favourite Hampshire is, I can't look further than the magical feeling of taking my first wicket. I was lining up to play in a Hampshire team alongside players I regarded at the time as my heroes. I was also taking the field against Derek Underwood at Maidstone in his farewell season. Mind you getting to the game was as stressful as playing in it! I had made my debut in the Refuge Assurance League the week before at Bournemouth against Somerset, because Gordon Greenidge and Malcolm Marshall were both playing in the MCC Bicentenary game at Lord's.   

I got the telephone call the night before the game in Kent at Maidstone at home in Portsmouth. It was in the middle of the three-day Championship game at the Mote Park ground and I had not been to due to travel. I came in for Malcolm Marshall who had helped dismiss Kent for about 190 the day before. The only way I could get there in time was borrowing my Mum's Ford Fiesta. The week before we had lost by 24 runs, and there was a really good crowd that day in Maidstone. Kent were still in the hunt for the title - with their very strong limited-overs side - and I know it was Underwood's last ever Sunday home game for his home county. He had always done really well against us.* What I then witnessed was a masterclass, as I waited very nervously to bat. Paul Terry, David Turner and Robin Smith all got runs, but Derek remained the real threat and had Robin stumped. It was just up so many levels from anything I had ever played in before. From then on Chris (Smith) batted brilliantly and looked in no trouble, even against Derek. He put on nearly 100 with Kevin James, with me waiting all the while padded-up and due in next. Watching Chris up close bat like that, against both seam and spin, made me realise how much I needed to improve to make the step up to try and earn a regular place the following summer. He made Derek look ordinary that day.

Stephen Andrew and Cardigan Connor opened up for us and I was relieved to come on first change and be involved early. We soon got rid of both openers. I will never forget the relief and joy of taking my first wicket when I bowled Simon Hinks. It settled me down, and Tim Tremlett kept it very tight at the other end. I was lucky enough to add the wickets of Chris Cowdrey and Eldine Baptiste, with Kent struggling to keep up with rate.  Derek's last innings didn't last long when Cardigan cleaned him up. The crowd were far more muted by this time, with their Sunday League title hopes over. In the end, we won by more than 60 runs. I was genuinely walking on air, experiencing the atmosphere of playing in front of such an expectant crowd for the first time. There were a lot of very good young players at the club at the time. Tony Middleton, Rupert Cox, Richard Scott, Kevin Shine, Shaun Udal, Raj Maru and Adi Aymes were all part of a very good Under 25 side that summer. The success of that day at Maidstone really spurred me on from that point to try and break into the side in 1988, with a number of the other very talented youngsters. It was a dressing room with the Smiths, Greenidge and Marshall - as a Hampshire fan, these guys were, after all, my heroes and playing with them as I said was just pure joy!  

Footnotes on the game by the HCH Website editor:

*From 1969 to 1986 when John Player were the sponsors of the Sunday League, the two leading wicket-takers were John Lever and Derek Underwood, with exactly 346 wickets each. Derek took his wickets at an average of 16.79, while John took his at 18.79 each. They were well clear in the list of the leading JPL wicket-takers: 40 more than third in the list, Essex's Stuart Turner. Against Hampshire Derek had taken 31 of those 346 wickets at an average of just 12.03.

I first came across Jon, playing for the "Bulldogs" (Year 7 Team) at Hilsea Playing Fields at Portsmouth Grammar School. It was at the time when David Rock was good to enough make centuries for Hampshire, having also been to our school. When I was out for the first team early - a regular occurrence -  I would go across and watch this young lad, who aged 12, was already the best player in the whole school. His father Chris was the perfect mentor and coach. They were never out of the nets practising in the summer term. All of us at PGS, who saw and played with him as a youngster, were so proud of how good a player he became. We were spoilt at the time following the progress of Roger Black on the track, Mike Wedderburn (of Sky Sports Fame) on the Rugby Field and Jon over at Northlands Road. He would have enjoyed a truly great career with Hampshire, but for that horrific and freakish injury to his knee. Watching him make 88 not out at Aigburth against Wasim Akram in 1988, as well as play a leading part in Hampshire's first three Lord's Final successes, remain indelible memories. Jon remains a true gentleman, fine coach and great cricket brain. On the one hand, it must feel what might have been for him, but, on the other, he must be so proud that he was a fine established regular in a very good Hampshire team at such a young age. From that game at Maidstone onwards, in all formats, he was a fixture batting at six and bowling first-change. 

1975 - Hampshire v Glamorgan 

July 16th 

Northlands Road, Southampton 

Hampshire 371-4 (60 overs) Greenidge 177, Richards 129

Glamorgan 207 (50.1 overs) Roberts 3-17

Result: Hants won by 164 runs

Written by John Winter

Hampshire’s 371-4 - a World Record?

Faced with the ridiculous task of selecting my favourite Hampshire game - whoever came up with that idea for this piece - it would seem entirely sensible to consider very tight finishes, famous cup final wins, trophy presentations, games in the balance from first to last ball, dramatic comebacks, match-winning bowling spells, hat-tricks, double-hundreds and even heroic draws. The game I eventually settled upon has none of these elements in it. To be fair, it could have been either game in Portsmouth Cricket Week in 1974, Middlesex at Bournemouth in 1978, Richards's two hundreds against Kent in 1976, Somerset in the T20 at Southampton in 2010, that take by Bates off the last ball at Lord's in 2012, T20 Finals Day where we won it twice on the same day against Lancashire at Edgbaston in 2022, Adams and Vince at Scarborough in 2010, Jesty's 166* in 1983 at Burnaby Road, the despair on that last day at Aigburth, Liam's hundred and ten wickets at Old Trafford less than 12 months ago, and the pure joy of winning at Lord's in '88, '91, '92, '05, '09 or 2018. They were all very much in the frame, along with at least a dozen others. The last 50 years watching Hampshire live have been very special. 

When it came to my final selection, I wanted to trace back to when I saw us at the height of our power as an eleven on the field. I also found myself focusing eventually on the partnership that I believe is the best I have ever seen. It also just happens to be probably the best regular opening partnership anyone has ever seen! Finally, I was also drawn back to my first full season watching Hampshire at their headquarters back then at Northlands Road. The best cricketing summers in my lifetime have been 1975, 1981, 2005 and 2019; they are, of course, all Ashes seasons.  It is from the first of those years that I settled on my final choice. It is from the golden summer of '75 with the first Prudential World Cup in England with Jeff Thomson and Dennis Lillee in town. It was the summer of Steele's defiance, Headingley and George Davis, Gilmour's swing, Fredericks out hit-wicket, Darley Dale, the first sight of a "freaker" hurdling the stumps at Lord's and Hampshire definitely competing on all four fronts domestically. Christian Ryan's fascinating book about Patrick Eagar's truly wonderful photographs taken in the summer of 1975 called "Feeling is the Thing that Happens in 1000th of a Second" sums up the season, "The English summer of 1975: occasional rain, no sleet. Cricket looked how cricket had always looked, a red ball, white clothes, no helmets hiding faces, all games played within daylight hours. Things would change in two, three years, but Eagar was here to capture it for posterity." As cricketing books go it is a treasure: more so for the photos than the text (which in itself is also very good).

50 years on and the memories of being there then are as vivid as if it were yesterday. I catch the train for the first time from Cosham to Southampton, meet my friend Robert Norrie at Fareham on that train, and then we walk up past the Dell to the Northlands Road ground. It is the first week of the summer holidays at the end of our first year at senior school. I am equally excited to see both grounds for the first time today. I am just surprised how close they are to each other in such a pleasant residential area. The Gillette Cup for us, at the time, is like the FA Cup - the premier cup competition with minnows involved, potential upsets, sell-out crowds and the thrill of the draw on the radio to see who you would be playing next if you got through. Above all, Lord’s for the final is everything and more than Wembley. Today’s opponents are our recent nemesis Glamorgan. Malcolm Nash, in particular, has been a real thorn in the side. It was Glamorgan who played a huge part - with the weather -  in spoiling our hopes of retaining the Championship last season, and only last week Nash was all over our batsmen at Basingstoke “like a proverbial rash.” He had taken a season's best 9-56 in Hampshire's first innings 132, in a three-day Championship game which again resulted in a shock win for Glamorgan. 

Hampshire win the toss and bat. A quiet start by Richards and Greenidge gives the large crowd no indication of the fireworks to come. Their first job is to see off the new ball and the opening spells by the skilful Nash and the bustling Tony Cordle. My scorecard from the day reminds me that the score moves sedately to 43-0 from the initial 12 overs. Runs then begin to flow from both ends. It is Greenidge who starts to pepper the fence on either side of the wicket. The wicket looks easy-paced and the outfield is lightning fast. We are sitting in front of the flats opposite the pavilion at square leg to a pull from Gordon which goes one bounce out of the ground behind us. It is no exaggeration to say that no spectator is safe in or even near the ground. Alister Marshall picks up that thread in his Portsmouth Evening News report the following day, “As a stream of fours and periodically a six, exploded from his bat, whether sitting on the packed rows of public benches, or even taking an afternoon walk along Northlands Road, no one was safe from the Greenidge bombardment.”

With the score on 91, Greenidge crashes another four past square cover to reach his half-century. There are no extravagant celebrations, as if to indicate we are still on the hors d’oeuvre course. Lunch is to be taken after the 34th or 35th over, two hours into the game. In that second hour of the morning session before Lunch, Gordon progresses from 51 to 72. He suddenly receives less of the strike and there is little rotation of strike; Barry is going through the gears and we have started the main course early. Our own packed lunch and tea was of course a distant memory by 12 Clock! The back of the scorecard - with all the records for the competition - reveals that only three players have scored hundreds before Lunch in the 12 years of the Gillette Cup; those three were all made against Minor Counties' sides and two of those were made by Hampshire’s Roy Marshall. Barry is in commanding form and races to his hundred with seven minutes to go before Lunch. He reaches his 100, with yet another four through the covers, out of 177, in just the 34th over. Patrick Eagar on the subject of Richards wrote, "while batting he gave vivid and literal illustration of a parallel way of being. In his head he imagined the field a clockface. Going clock-wise he then stroked all six balls in an over to a different sector of the fence." Unquestionably in July 1975, he was the best batsman in the world. Hampshire go to lunch at 186-0.

After the interval - and the chance to play for the first time on the manicured outfield - Barry continues to step on the gas at twenty-four hour clock speed; the Gillette Cup Competition Record First Wicket Partnership is now under threat. It stands at 227 and belongs to Roy Marshall and Barry Reed. The reverse side of the scorecard for the day confirms they scored these runs together against Bedfordshire at Goldington in 1968. Four overs after lunch the stand is broken, with the score on 210, when Richards is bowled by Geoff Ellis. Exactly a hundred of his 129 runs come in boundaries (2 sixes and 22 fours). Alister Marshall in the Portsmouth Evening News wrote, “As Richards left the stage, Greenidge took over the star billing, and as the West Indian cut loose early in the afternoon, the records began to tumble. Greenidge 72 at lunch, added 100 in just 75 minutes on the resumption. Glamorgan’s attack, already punch drunk from the South African’s assault, now found themselves in a similar position to shell-shocked refugees, who having survived one blitz, lost their last vestige of morale when the real onslaught began.” Greenidge, more often than Richards, opts for the aerial route and the tiled roof of the old pavilion is very much in the firing line. David Turner, meanwhile, remains an onlooker at the non-striker’s end. As and when he does have the strike, he simply nurdles one behind square on the leg side, knowing he is not there to interrupt the spectators’ enjoyment at the fireworks show.  

Gordon duly races past the individual highest score by a batsman in the Gillette Cup (146 G Boycott v Surrey at Lord’s in 1965) to reach the first ever 150+ score in the 54th over, with another towering six. Most important of all for us on the ground that day, is the fact that he breaks his own ever highest one-day score of 173* against the Minor Counties South at Amersham in 1973. He now has the two highest one-day scores ever made in England. Completing the Hampshire hat-trick of the three one-day competitions, Barry’s 155* v Yorkshire at Hull in 1970 was the leading John Player League score on Sundays. 

After one ball in his final spell is dispatched to the boundary by CGG, Malcolm Nash removes a white handkerchief from his pocket and waves it to the crowd as a token of total submission. The dismissal of Greenidge is also worthy of note in the penultimate over of the innings. It is as a result of a brilliant tumbling catch by Hopkins, running forward at deep mid-wicket, ending a chanceless record-breaking knock (which eventually includes 7 sixes and 17 fours). Nash’s mock celebration is a joy to behold. A beautiful element of the game is the respect shown by fellow players when greatness is at hand. It is what sets cricket apart. The ovation for the departing record-holder has everyone on their feet for at least the tenth time that day. Even then there is still time for Andy Roberts to make 14* off 5 balls, with another towering six to finish the innings. At a time where there is no access to immediate information, there is animated talk in the interval of a world record one-day score of 371-4 in 60 overs. We await confirmation with great anticipation, eager to learn of yet more records created that day.

On that score, Rex Alston in the Daily Telegraph the following day confirmed, “The Hampshire opening batsmen gave a brilliant exhibition against Glamorgan in their second-round Gillette Cup match at Southampton yesterday. Hampshire put up the highest team score ever in a one-day match of 371-4 and Greenidge the highest individual total, 177.” Gordon Ross, however, in the September 1975 Cricketer magazine had to set the record straight a few weeks later. He noted, “Hampshire‘s massive score of 371 for four in their second round tie of the Gillette Cup against Glamorgan at Southampton was certainly a record for one-day cricket in this country, but it fell one short of the World Record 372 for five which Eastern Province scored at East London against Border in the Gillette Cup in South Africa, when Graeme Pollock hit 222 not out in 1973.”

When Glamorgan begin their reply, the contest is already over. Both openers are called Jones and both are sent back by the express pace of Andy Roberts. He bowls so much quicker than anyone else, it again feels like a different sport being played by the two teams. Another vivid memory of that day, as a twelve-year-old, is that Hampshire also field extremely well. The perfect example is when the very dangerous and elegant Majid Khan falls to a fine low return catch by the still very nimble and trim Peter Sainsbury. My favourite team just looks the complete side with all bases covered. Bob Herman, John Rice, Trevor Jesty and Peter Sainsbury all share the wickets with Andy Roberts, whose eventual figures are 8.1-3-17-3. Bob Stephenson is brilliant behind the stumps, both standing back and standing up. My friend Robert and I just feel for poor Andrew Murtagh (in the side for the injured Mike Taylor) who fields for the full 50.1 overs, but registers another TFC! It remains a purely statistical exercise in the second-half of the day - instead of a game -  and the only excitement left comes when Solanky and Cordle add 44 for the 10th wicket. They end up just one short of yet another Gillette Cup Record, this time for the tenth wicket (still held by Hampshire’s Alan Castell and Butch White against Lancashire in 1970). As for the result, Glamorgan fall just 164 runs short of a win! 

The most difficult task is now left to Charlie Barnett, on the steps of the Hampshire Dressing Room, with the choice of the Man of the Match Award. He said he had as much difficulty not awarding it to the player who had scored the fastest hundred before lunch in the competition, as he did giving it, instead, for the highest score ever made in the competition. He acknowledged the fact Richards walked away without the Gold Award for a knock “that was the best he had ever seen in any form of the game for technical quality.” As for Greenidge, he was to surpass this knock with an even more destructive Championship innings at Southampton, within six weeks, which contained nearly twice as many sixes!  

When the first two hundreds you ever saw live, though, were the two I saw at Southampton that day in cricket’s FA Cup, you will understand why both are not easily forgotten. We had, after all, just seen the first Prudential World Cup on TV, where Gavaskar in the opening game batted for all 60 overs at Lord's in making just 36*! The 1974 Football World Cup in West Germany was also fresh in the memory where the World's best two players, Beckenbauer and Cruyff, met in the Final. That day, just up the road from the Dell, at Southampton, it felt like cricket's equivalents of Cruyff and Beckenbauer were playing in the same team. In any sport, the truly elite players have more time; they just make the game look so easy. Watching two together do just that was what happened on Wednesday 16th July 1975.  The Southern Evening Echo the following day confirmed a crowd of 2,903 (including members) paid £1,533.90 to be there. Robert left our school three years later and moved to London, before emigrating to America. One of the first things we talked about in Los Angeles, when we met up about ten years ago, was being there for some of those heady days at Northlands Road and that partnership. On the other side of the world, we still couldn't decide whose was the better knock 40 years after the game had finished!   

1988 - Hampshire v Derbyshire 

July 9th 1988

Lord's Ground, London 

Derbyshire 117 (46.3 overs)  Jefferies 10-3-13-5

Hampshire 118 -3 (31.5 overs)

Result: Hants won by 7 wickets

Written by Karl Bamford

Hampshire and Friendship

Whilst friendships can often have unlikely roots (chance meetings, shared interests, same time, same, place, etc) and other more intricate and complicated beginnings, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe would probably rank as one of the more unusual ones. But for the sport obsessives amongst us, it is usually fairly straightforward. Birds of a feather and all that malarkey. Plain and simple. Undiluted. Nothing more. Nothing less. Although very often much less, depending on which unsuccessful, football club, first class county, professional rugby (union or league) team you might follow. Stoke City and Staffordshire won’t get many pulses racing, but being a Stoke-on-Trent native, there isn’t much choice and certainly nothing to get too excited about when it comes to professional or first-class, top level sport. Lower tier football (Stoke, Vale and Crewe) and minor county status, despite the plethora of neighbouring first-class counties (more of that later). A sporting offering that might be described as absolutely average at best. Stoke City, my team, since 16 August 1969, (2-1 against West Ham United - let me indulge my inner Barnestoneworth United, Gordon Ottershaw here), offered massive early promise in the Tony Waddington era; but, unfortunately, it turned out to be simply all fur coat and no knickers (and frozen bits) as we soon found our Bermuda Triangle level; Stoke-on-Trent, a place where football talent and managerial promise arrives and disappears without trace. Supporting a team like Stoke, breeds a certain sporting outlook and philosophy; non-entitled, cynical, curmudgeonly, and terrifyingly pessimistic. 

For the cricket fans reading this, a bit like currently following Leicester or Glamorgan…without the highs! Us despairing folk gaze on (with a mixture of disdain, envy and loathing) at the successful sporting teams, wondering why? Why? Cricket-wise, the formative years of the 70s, threw up the exotic Lancashire team and their highs and lows (literally Clive Lloyd and Harry Pilling), a heady team of exotic, overseas and grounded Northern. The magnificent, exciting Gillette Cup, and the even more magnificent John Player League; filling every Sunday, for what seemed like months on end. The timeless John Player League - who cared if it was a fag company sponsoring? Much more importantly, guess where the game is?  Why doesn’t Richie Benaud commentate on it? And who the hell is this oracle on the game, John Arlott…? It was here, curtains drawn, scorebook ready, dreamy, err sorry, dreary Sunday afternoons that Hampshire first drifted into my conscience. How could they not? Barry Richards. Gordon Greeidge. Anderson Montgomery Everton Roberts. Terrifying even through the lens of a TV camera and 200 miles away. Black Day at Basingstoke - a photograph in the JPL handbook forever etched in my memory. Andy Roberts. Always destined to be a Sir….They were more than exotic; tropical, terrific, and terrifying. Still now possibly the greatest ever opening partnership in any form of cricket? I’d say so…So I knew Hampshire from afar. 

But that was all to change in the autumn of 1981. Thanks to the aforementioned Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. From then on Hampshire CCC would take on a very different dimension in my life. Thanks to Manchester University, German and a truly awful (no, I really do mean incredibly awful), sporting jumper, worn, ill-fitting and garishly by another student in my Goethe Institute class, John. I suppose heralding from Cosham near Portsmouth, it was absolutely inevitable that John would be a Manchester United supporter. Why support Portsmouth or Southampton when you can follow the first English team to win the European Cup - and to do it during our formative sport-watching years? I suspect you readers, like me, will have your own theory on the rationale behind his choice? But in his defence (and I do feel very protective of him these days) he chose Manchester University, not because of the academic excellence of the Institution, the ferocious reputation of the German Department or the unrivalled quality of the academics delivering the course; but simply so he could watch his beloved Man United. Something he still does to this day having settled in the Northwest. So cut him some slack…The jumper he wore sparked a discussion (English, not German) which led to a trip to the Victoria Ground in Stoke a few days later to see United do what they’ve done virtually every time in the intervening 45 years - beat the Potters. 

And so a friendship began that day that endures to this. And alongside ( almost incidentally and osmotically) I fell for his other mistress. His summer mistress. Hampshire CCC. They fitted perfectly. The nearly men. Semi-final defeat after semi-final defeat. It was just like the early 70s following Stoke again. Defeat after defeat after defeat in the games that really mattered. But the results didn’t really matter. The friendship mattered. The sharing mattered. At least to me. Initially I didn’t share John's despair and soon learned to live with it; but it did get hold of me after a while. So when 1988 came along and Paul Terry scored a two-day, rain affected, ton to actually win a semi in Chelmsford (not a million miles from where I was living at the time in East London) they won a semi-final. Something Stoke didn’t manage for another 23 years. And walloping Essex in the semi meant a date at HQ, on 9th July against Derbyshire. Surely a formality? Surely? But this was the Derbyshire of Kim Barnett. John Morris. Devon Malcolm. Ole Mortensen. And Whispering Death ... .possibly one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time; before he became one of the greatest men of all time. Derbyshire. My neighbouring county. The team that, really, should have been mine. On paper and player for player, possibly the stronger of the two teams.

But 1988 was the year of the sporting underdog. Wimbledon beat Liverpool in the FA Cup Final. Luton beat Arsenal in the League Cup Final. Liverpool won the league ahead of Manchester United, Notts Forest and the favourites, Everton. Wolves won the Fourth Division and Manchester City finished ninth in the Second Division. Simply don’t ask about Stoke.Worcester were to win the County Championship after the experiment of both three and four day first class matches. Hampshire finished 15th and Derbyshire finished 14th, so Hampshire fell beautifully into the underdog category on that mixed and overcast sunny day at HQ in July. The Benson & Hedges (thanks again to the Fag companies!) Final.Hampshire’s first ever one-day final. And my favourite ever Hampshire game

A short trip from East London for me. Mixed weather. Great excitement. Not sure I’d ever seen John happier as we wandered down the Wellington Road. That happiness was only to grow larger, for only a few hours later - after an emphatic Pavilion End spell from Steve Jeffries(10-3-13-5!) - it was over as a final for The Golden Rose. Has there ever been a better HQ spell of left arm swing-bowling? The game itself, as a sporting spectacle, was an anti-climax; not just an anticlimax, but a massive one. Like securing a date with Victoria Principal only to discover she has a soft spot for the Arsenal. Or Surrey. But no one of a Hampshire persuasion cared tuppence. Jefferies' bowling that day was unplayable. As a contest, the game was over within 90 minutes, but, in addition to Jefferies bowling, the game hosted, arguably the greatest ever catch I have ever seen in the flesh, as Steve Goldsmith pouched a Robin Smith steepler off Alan Warner running round from deep fine leg. Robin Smith had to depart, not just to the winning dressing room on the day, but to the Test arena. His aggressive 38 included a number of those trade mark and tracer-line square cuts. He was made for the big stage. This was his audition and England soon came calling.

And so, mid-afternoon, we jauntily skipped across the hallowed turf towards the Pavillion for the trophy presentation. Chatting with John Ayling, one of the Hants players (who John, had been at Portsmouth Grammar School with) was a highlight, but so was chatting, for some considerable time, to TMS doyen and cricket superstar Brian Johnston. "Johnners", the perfect gentleman who very quickly picked up on John's deep-rooted love for Hampshire and was quick to share his joy And it’s John’s joy, after so much heartache, following Hampshire, is the enduring and powerful memory. Years of heartache swept away in a few hours of blissful sporting joy. And I was lucky to share it with my friend, John.

My favourite ever Hampshire game.

1974 - Nottinghamshire v Hampshire 

May 25th and 27th 1974

Trent Bridge 

Nottinghamshire 98 (58 overs)  Taylor 5-29

Hampshire 344 (93.4 overs) Richards 225 not out

Nottinghamshire 145 (63 overs)

Result: Hants won by an innings and 101 runs

Written by Bob Herman in conversation with John Winter

Batting with Barry when he carried his bat at Trent Bridge 

In some ways, I have two favourite games: one was playing for Hampshire and the other was when I played against them for Middlesex, who gave me my debut in the professional game. Hampshire, of course, has always been my county. My father, 'Lofty', played for Hampshire from 1929 right through to 1948 and he was also a pace bowler, like me. He very rarely talked about his playing days and always just encouraged me. The main bulk of his career was obviously before the war, but he did play after 1946 for a couple more years. The one story I do recall was when playing against Sussex at Hastings, he was looking forward to his bath after a long spell. He had taken four or five wickets in the Sussex innings. Lionel Tennyson, his skipper, was batting with Jonny Arnold at the end of the day, and wanted my Dad padded up as nightwatchman. Hastings was one of those grounds where the mist certainly used to come off the sea. It was a picturesque ground. When my Dad had to go out to bat late on Day One to join Lionel, they both were happy to see an early close. As my Dad approached Lionel in the middle, he called out to him about how things were. My Dad simply replied, " I can hear you, my Lord, but I can't see you!" The umpires definitely got the message, as well as seeing the funny side of it; they were soon off the field, and the Hampshire lads would no doubt have been ready quite quickly after that for a night out in Hastings!

Before I joined Hampshire, which was so special for me, in 1972, I did play in what I think is the last ever tie the county were involved in. It was at Portsmouth in 1967. I remember that I did okay with a few wickets in the match and I bowled the last over at Derek Shackleton and Bob Cottam. Hampshire needed three to win and when it came down to the last ball, they needed just one. I bowled full and straight at Bob and it was good enough. I just remember my team mate, Mike Smith, (who was awarded his Middlesex cap, with Clive Radley during that game), running up to me and kissing me on the head amidst all the celebrations. 

For my absolute favourite Hampshire game it has be that match at Nottingham in 1974. We went there as Champions, but they were a strong side with Sobers in his prime. Trent Bridge was always one of the more difficult grounds to bowl on in the early seventies. It was so flat and truly a bowler's nightmare. Later, after I finished playing and when I umpired there - in the days of Richard Hadlee and Clive Rice - I always found that it was a very different surface that had been prepared by the groundsman. We arrived at the ground in late May of 1974 expecting another wicket to be a batsman's paradise. Before the game, captain, Richard Gilliat, came up to ask me what we should do at the toss. We could not believe it when the covers came off. It looked so green, with more grass on it, and so unlike the wickets I had been used to there. Jacky Bond had moved across from Lancashire that year to captain Notts, and imagine our surprise when he chose to bat. We dismissed them for under a hundred in about 50 overs. The ball did all sorts. Mike Taylor was playing against his former team and finished with 5 for about 30. Barry (Richards) said we just needed to bat once and make 320. We ended up making just over 340 and Barry made 225 of them. He was just in a different class to anyone else playing the game - including Sobers! I came in at eleven to join him and he just said "have some fun!" I struck a couple of fours off Barry Stead and then got out. Barry just walked off with me, having carried his bat. It was the best innings I ever saw anyone play. 

Second time round, I managed to take 4 wickets and they never got close to making us bat again. I remember getting Sobers caught by Peter Sainsbury for single figures. 'Sains' was a fine fielder in a brilliant fielding team. He also got wickets in that second innings. We ended up winning by an innings and more than a hundred runs. At this stage, we were Title favourites, unlike the year before when we won it. We had started 1973 not thinking about winning the Championship, but gradually our confidence just grew and grew with results. 

The following season, we played some fine cricket as Champions, typified by that win at Trent Bridge. My favourite one day game would have to be the Benson and Hedges win at Bristol a year later. We were bowled out for 112 in the Group Game, but then reduced them to 12-6 and 62 all out. I managed to take 5-24 in 7 overs. The Championship meant so much, though, and that innings by Barry is what I remember most from my playing days with Hampshire. 

Footnotes on the game by the HCH Website editor:

For the tied Middlesex game played at Portsmouth on August 23rd, 24th and 25th, the 1968 Hampshire Handbook records that Hampshire actually lost the game on first innings. Middlesex declared on 327-5 dec. and Hampshire made 277 in reply. Second time around, Middlesex declared again 9 down down for 123. Needing 174 to win, Hampshire's number eleven, Bob Cottam, was bowled by Bob Herman with the scores level after 31 overs. There would not have been time for another over. What was truly remarkable about this fourth tied Hampshire game since 1946, was the fact the scores were also level in the drawn game the match before when Hampshire played Leicestershire at Grace Road. With Hampshire 8 down and chasing 268 for victory, two were needed off the last ball of the third day of that game. This time it was Shackleton on strike; he could only manage a leg bye and the teams left the field for a draw with the scores level. Back to the Middlesex game where Barry Reed was also capped by Hampshire, it felt late on that Hampshire were favourites to win an exciting chase at nearly 6 and over. 20 were needed in the last 20 minutes with five wickets in hand.  Three wickets then fell at 154, including two run-outs. Bob Herman returned figures of 4-44, off his 12 overs, against the side he was to join five seasons later.

1969 - Essex v Hampshire 

June 11th, 12th and 13th 1969

Valentine's Park, Ilford 

Essex 246 (78 overs)  Cottam 5-64

Hampshire 250-9 dec. (83.5 overs) Gilliat 109

Essex 298-9 dec.  (73 overs)

Hampshire 170 (62.3 overs)

Result: Essex won by 124 runs

Written by David Ackland

Five Ts

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 toimagine 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 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)