Email Updates for our HCH Supporters 

April 2025

New season update from Hampshire Cricket Heritage

Dear HCH supporter,

Hampshire have already played a number of pre-season friendlies, with more to come, and the first Championship game is only 10 days away, on Friday 4th April. So it seemed appropriate to bring you up to date with all our news from over the close season.

There are a number of exciting HCH announcements for the start of the 2025 season. Firstly, we are delighted to announce the publication of Dave Allen’s latest book, Hampshire Cricket in the Eighteenth Century. On sale at the special price of £15 for HCH Supporters in the Club Shop (normal price £20), it is a publication Dave has completed for Timothy J McCann, who sadly died in 2022. In order to read more, use this link for the HCH website:

https://www.hampshirecountycricketheritage.co.uk/Hampshire-Cricket-Heritage

Secondly, we have a number of other events and HCH publications planned for release during the summer of 2025.

HCH Dates for your Diary

Our first HCH Book Sale will be on Days 2 and 3 of the Yorkshire home game, on Saturday April 5th and Sunday April 6th, in the Club Shop. We would welcome any donations to add to the many books we have been given over the winter. All of our eight HCH Publications will be available to buy, including the latest one issued this winter about Hampshire’s Naval Cricketers, written by Stephen Saunders, which is featured in this month’s Cricketer Magazine. 

Archive Room Progress Update

During the close season, Ray Stubbington and Glen Williams have made excellent progress with re-organising pictures, photos, recent donations and former players’ clothing in the Archive Room. In addition, Glen has been running a number of successful and well-received Hampshire Members Tour visits to the Archive Room. Our monthly updates on progress in the Archive Room are featured using this link:

https://www.hampshirecountycricketheritage.co.uk/archive-room/updates

It is very pleasing to note that, as HCH becomes better known, more people are coming forward to offer us memorabilia for our collection. Hopefully we shall have even more acquisitions to report in 2025.

HCH Website Update

There are a number of new features this year on our website which are updated for the start of each month. They include the April 2025 photo quiz, the latest in the collection of articles about My Favourite Hampshire Game, updates from the Archive Room, notes to HCH from our own supporters and a column of reflections written by former HCH Chairman, Terry Crump. They are all available to explore on the HCH Homepage, which you can access with this link:

https://www.hampshirecountycricketheritage.co.uk/Hampshire-Cricket-Heritage

A number of HCH supporters will feature in the new year on the site, as we build our collection of 75 memorable games to celebrate the 75th birthday of our historian, Dave Allen. We would welcome more contributions from supporters. What is your favourite game? To find out how to send your contribution, read more on the following page below of the website: 

https://www.hampshirecountycricketheritage.co.uk/memories/my-favourite-game

HCH Supporter Donations

We can certainly look back on a record year for donations and support from you during 2024 and in the first three months of 2025. There are two places on the website where you can find out more on all our latest donations. A good example, of course, is the amazing Butler family Hambledon screen which now resides in the Archive Room. Click on this link on the website to read more:

https://www.hampshirecountycricketheritage.co.uk/archive-room/archive-collection-highlights

In recognition of all our efforts to curate the HCH Archive Collection more professionally, some of our supporters have now moved to annual donations to fund future acquisitions for our collection, either by standing order, or by regular one-off donations. We can supply bank details if you choose to set up a standing order.  We are very much hoping that the number of HCH Supporters will continue to increase during 2025, as we become ever more ambitious to make the Hampshire Cricket Heritage project one of the most special in the country. We can always be contacted at hantscccheritage@gmail.com 

Wishing you and your family all the very best for the new season,

Richard Griffiths, David Ackland, Dave Allen, Ray Stubbington, Glen Williams and John Winter

Hampshire Cricket Heritage Team 

Dear HCH supporter,

I am writing to you to give a pre-Christmas update on progress at Hampshire Cricket Heritage this autumn. We can look back on a record year for donations and support from you throughout 2024. A good example is the amazing Butler family Hambledon screen which now resides in the Archive Room. Click on this link on the website to read more:

https://www.hampshirecountycricketheritage.co.uk/archive-room/archive-collection-highlights

There are a number of new features this autumn on our website which are updated for the start of each month. They include a photo quiz, a column of reflections written by former HCH Chairman, Terry Crump, and an exciting new section entitled My Favourite Game. They are all available to explore on the HCH Homepage, which you can access with this link:

https://www.hampshirecountycricketheritage.co.uk/Hampshire-Cricket-Heritage

A number of HCH supporters will feature in the new year on the site, as we build our collection of 75 memorable games to celebrate the 75th birthday of our historian, Dave Allen. We would welcome more contributions from supporters. What is your favourite game? To find out how to send your contribution, read more on the following page below of the website: 

https://www.hampshirecountycricketheritage.co.uk/memories/my-favourite-game

You can then just contact us with your favourite game at: hantscccheritage@gmail.com

During October and November, we have made excellent progress with re-organising pictures and clothing in the Archive Room, as well as running another successful Hampshire Members Tour visit to the Archive Room. Our monthly updates on progress in the Archive Room are featured using this link:

https://www.hampshirecountycricketheritage.co.uk/archive-room/updates

It's pleasing to note that, as HCH becomes better known, more people are coming forward to offer us memorabilia for our collection. Hopefully we shall have more acquisitions to report in the New Year.

We are, of course, extremely grateful for all the support we have received this year from Hampshire Cricket and you, our supporters. You can read more about all that we have achieved with that support on our annual submission to the 18 Counties Forum, using the link below.

https://www.hampshirecountycricketheritage.co.uk/Hampshire-Cricket-Heritage/hch-annual-report

In recognition of this, some of our supporters have now moved to annual donations to fund future acquisitions for our collection, either by standing order, or by regular one off donations. We can supply bank details if you choose to set up a standing order.  We are very much hoping that number will increase for January 2025, as we become ever more ambitious to make the Hampshire Cricket Heritage project one of the most special in the country.

Wishing you and your family all the very best for the festive period,

Richard Griffiths,

Chair, Hampshire Cricket Heritage

Dear all,

September 2024 Update

Welcome to the fifth of our regular HCH email Updates for the 2024 season.

The two key items of news are:

• Reflections on the relaunch of HCH for its supporters in 2024

• Winter activities for HCH

  HCH in 2024  

It has been a very busy summer behind the scenes for our team of volunteers running Hampshire Cricket Heritage. We have also received a huge amount of support from our growing supporter base in a number of different ways. Although we are a limited company, we operate on a not-for-profit basis, with all our work done by volunteers. This means that donations in the form of cash or Hampshire Cricket related memorabilia directly improve our collection, with no overhead costs. More and more supporters want to make an annual donation either in recognition of all the hard work being done or because they share our vision to ensure Hampshire Cricket has a brilliant collection to exhibit in displays around the Utilita Bowl, or maybe in the future in a fully equipped Archive Room which is open to the public at certain times. The second book sale profits were slightly affected by the adverse weather which prevented a good deal of play during the Essex Championship match in late August. Nevertheless, we were able to raise nearly £1000 through the sales of books, pictures, plates etc. Our own HCH Publications continue to be well received, and we now have back copies in the Archive Room of all of them for those wanting to make sure they can complete the set. 

For more information on all our previous publications, click on this link: https://www.hampshirecountycricketheritage.co.uk/Hampshire-Cricket-Heritage/hch-publications 

Our supporters have increased significantly in number this summer and we hope that you are finding our more regular communications helpful. We all really enjoyed talking and listening to so many of you at the two book sales this season; your encouragement and support has meant a great deal to each of us.

The Winter ahead

Dave Allen is busy on a number of projects relating to our very early history and a couple of our greatest former players whose achievements haven't yet been recorded in biographies. Dave hopes to rectify this! There are certainly three more HCH Booklets planned for publication at various points in 2025. 

David Ackland and Richard Griffiths will continue to ensure that HCH works as closely with the Club as possible during the likely takeover which was reported in the media a few weeks ago. 

Meanwhile, in the Archive Room itself, Glen Williams and Ray Stubbington are busy cataloguing, photographing and organising our extensive collections. We will endeavour to update you on their progress on the website  - under the Archive Room Tab  - during the close season. A comprehensive updated Bibliography of HCCC in the extremely capable hands of Stephen Saunders - and now assisted by Glen - is another valuable project in progress. Again, we want to offer a concise version on the website by the start of next season. As promised, we will send out two emails to our supporters over the winter, probably in December and March, giving you an insight on progress made and how your money is being spent for the true benefit of HCH.

Our Supporters 

 This month we welcome as new supporters: James Isham, Harold Smith and Richard Lyon.

 Website Home Page 

Our Home Page will be kept up to date each month in the close season with new material. This month’s entries include an update on Hampshire’s return to Championship cricket and recent HCH acquisitions.

 Click here for the Home Page of the Hampshire Cricket Heritage Website: https://www.hampshirecountycricketheritage.co.uk/ 

Enjoy the final few weeks of the season and we look forward to seeing many of you at the Hampshire v Worcestershire game at the UB, or hearing from you via our email address: hantscccheritage@gmail.com 

Best Wishes,

John Winter

HCH Website Editor

August 2024 Update

Welcome to the fourth of our regular HCH email Updates for the 2024 season.

The two key items of news are:

• our second book sale for 2024

• launch of a new HCH publication

Website Home Page 

Our Home Page is kept up to date each week with new material. This month’s entries include an update on HCH publications and Dave Allen's new exhibition at Portsmouth City Library about 275 Years of Cricket in Portsmouth. 

Click here for the Home Page of the Hampshire Cricket Heritage Website: https://www.hampshirecountycricketheritage.co.uk/ 

 HCH Publications

The latest HCH Booklet, which is the seventh in our series since 2020, written by Dave Allen, focuses on the 2014 Division Two Championship Winning Campaign; it will be available to buy for £5 in the Club Shop from the start of the Essex Championship game, which begins on 22nd August.

For more information on all our previous publications, click on this link: https://www.hampshirecountycricketheritage.co.uk/Hampshire-Cricket-Heritage/hch-publications 

Next Book Sale

We are now actively preparing for the next Book Sale in the Club Shop at the Utilita Bowl on Thursday 22nd, Friday 23rd and Saturday 24th August, the first three days of the Essex Championship match.  You, as our Supporters, can help us in so many ways with this again. We are always looking for donations of books, help with setting up, serving on the day and customers to buy from us. We will have a number of signed bats, pictures and other Hampshire cricket related items to complement the sale of books. 

Our Supporters 

This month we welcome Xander Bird as a new supporter.

Apart from help with the book sale, mentioned above, what would help us most is if supporters were able to store a few boxes of unsold surplus stock over the winter, given space is at a premium in the Archive Room. That would give us room to create better displays of our wonderful collection.

We look forward to seeing many of you in the coming weeks at a Hampshire game at the UB, or hearing from you via our email address: hantscccheritage@gmail.com 

Best Wishes,

John Winter

HCH Website Editor

Dear all,

Welcome to the third of our monthly HCH email Updates for the 2024 season.

July 2024 Update 

Our Supporters

Having helped to host the Former Players Day in the Hampshire Suite on the first day of the Kent game on June 30th, we would like to begin by particularly welcoming five of our new supporters, who have all represented our great club with distinction. Trevor Jesty, Richard McIlwaine, Andy Murtagh, Steve Malone and Mike Hill have all now joined HCH in the last few weeks, as particularly valued Supporters. It is a big hope that we can encourage in the future large numbers of our former players to become part of Hampshire Cricket Heritage. Each of them has contributed in a unique way to the history and fabric of Hampshire Cricket. We want to be able to share that history as widely and inclusively as possible, to evoke happy memories and engender further interest for future generations of cricket lovers in Hampshire. A warm welcome also to Neil and Archie Dunn, as well as Keith Hodgson, who have all made donations to join us as HCH Supporters in recent weeks. We are certainly making fine progress in our stated aim of trying to reach our own century of having 100 HCH Supporters - all donating to our cause - by the end of the year.

Website Home Page 

Our Home Page is kept up to date each week with new material. This month’s entries include an update from the Archive Room on the recent acquisition of Sam Pothecary’s cap and our latest publications, including a reprint of Dave Allen’s Hampshire Cricketers Update Booklet. Click here for the Home Page of the Hampshire Cricket Heritage Website:

https://www.hampshirecountycricketheritage.co.uk/

The latest HCH Booklet which is the sixth in our series since 2020 and features four former players Bob Stephenson, Bob Herman, Trevor Jesty and Mike Taylor. They were all kind enough to talk to me about my first ever week watching Hampshire back in August 1974 as an eleven-year-old. The booklet - with a limited numbered edition of 200 - costs £5 and is now on sale in the Club Shop. The seventh booklet in the series, again written by Dave Allen, focuses on the 2014 Division Two Championship Winning Campaign; it will be available to buy for £5 next month. For more information on all our publications, click on this link:

https://www.hampshirecountycricketheritage.co.uk/Hampshire-Cricket-Heritage/hch-publications

Portsmouth Library Exhibition

Dave Allen’s new exhibition in the Portsmouth Library, planned for late August or early September, is entitled “275 Not Out” and starts with what is believed to be the first cricket match played in Portsmouth 275 years ago. It also features a whole host of interesting facets of cricket played there ever since, by both men and women. 

Archive Room Update 

Glen and Ray have been very busy again this month in the Archive Room creating the right storage for our valuable pictures and photos.To read more about their progress, click on this link:

https://www.hampshirecountycricketheritage.co.uk/archive-room/updates

Next Book Sale

We are also now actively preparing for the next Book Sales in the Club Shop at the Utilita Bowl on Thursday 22nd, Friday 23rd and Saturday 24th August. You, as Supporters, can help us in so many ways with this again. We are always looking for donations of books, help with setting up, serving on the day, customers to buy from us etc. We will have a number of signed bats, pictures and other Hampshire cricket related items to complement the sale of books. What would probably help us most is an offer to store a few boxes of unsold surplus stock over the winter, given the space is at a premium in The Archive Room to create better displays for our wonderful collection.

Next Book Sale

Finally, we would like to add that all our former general communication with you - both as e-Magazines and emails - has been archived on the Supporters Page of the new website. We intend from now on to send out a monthly email during the cricket season and then just two covering the sixth months during the close season over the winter. This link below will take you to the right sub-page on the site to read them.

https://www.hampshirecountycricketheritage.co.uk/supporters-page/hch-supporter-emails

We look forward to seeing so many of you in the coming weeks at a Hampshire game at the UB or hearing from you for any feedback at our email address of hantscccheritage@gmail.com

Best Wishes,

John Winter

HCH Website Editor

Dear all,

Welcome to the second of our monthly HCH email Updates for the 2024 season.

We would like to begin by particularly welcoming two new supporters, David Harper and Steve Smith who have joined HCH in the last few weeks. As mentioned last month, we are very keen to try and reach our own century of having 100 HCH Supporters all donating to our cause by the end of the year.

Our Home Page is kept up to date each week with new material currently and you can view by clicking on the following link:

https://www.hampshirecountycricketheritage.co.uk/

One of the first entries on the Home Page is about the latest HCH Booklet which is the sixth in our series since 2020. Last summer, I was privileged to sit down with former players Bob Stephenson, Bob Herman, Trevor Jesty and Mike Taylor to talk about my first ever week watching Hampshire back in August 1974 as an eleven year old. Arguably, they are the greatest team to have played for the club in the County Championship going right back to 1895. They were the current champions, of course, and that week they beat two of their closest rivals by an innings in each game to stretch their lead at the top of the 1974 table. The booklet - with a limited numbered edition of 200 - will be on sale in the Club Shop from Sunday June 30th onwards. You can read more on the site at:

https://www.hampshirecountycricketheritage.co.uk/Hampshire-Cricket-Heritage/hch-publications

Dave Allen has also been very busy, as always, preparing for a new exhibition in Portsmouth entitled “275 Not Out”. The exhibition will be in Portsmouth Library and opens in either late August or early September. It starts with what is believed to be the first cricket match played in Portsmouth 275 years ago and features a whole host of interesting facets of cricket played there ever since, by both men and women. Some of the content will be posted in the coming months on the HCH Website under the tab Portsmouth in the History Section. In addition, Dave’s next HCH Publication (number 7 in the series) focusing on the Division Two winning team of 2014, with contributions from some of the players, will be available to buy at the end of August at our next Book Sale at the Utilita Bowl. 

Despite the poor weather in recent weeks, we hope you enjoy reading about Hampshire's progress week by week in a Journal for the 2024 English Cricket Season, including England at the T20 World Cup and the approaching Test Series against West Indies and Sri Lanka. I am also using this as a chance to look back on how things unfolded in the 1968 season (by way of comparison), when the major overseas stars arrived for the first time on the county circuit. Scoring rates in the Ashes Series in June 1968 feature prominently for example. For the exact page, under the Memories Tag of Every Season Tag on the HCH Website, just click on this link;

https://www.hampshirecountycricketheritage.co.uk/memories-of-every-season/johns-journal-of-the-2024-season

Work continues apace, meanwhile, to get the Archive Room in even better shape for the next round of Hampshire Members Tours in late 2024 and early 2025. We have been concentrating this month on cataloguing all porcelain, glassware, trophies and medals. We are also preparing for the next Book Sales, as mentioned, on Thursday 22nd, Friday 23rd and Saturday 24th August. You, as Supporters, can help us in so many ways with this again. We are always looking for donations of books, help with setting up, serving on the day, customers to buy from us etc. We will have a number of signed bats, pictures and other Hampshire cricket related items to complement the sale of books. What would probably help us most is an offer to store a few boxes of unsold surplus stock over the winter, given the space is at a premium in The Archive Room to create better displays for our wonderful collection.

We look forward to seeing so many of you in the coming weeks at a Hampshire game at the UB or hearing from you for any feedback at our email address of hantscccheritage@gmail.com

Best Wishes,

John Winter

HCH Website Editor

Dear all,

Welcome to our first monthly HCH email Update for the 2024 season.

While Ali Orr and Tom Prest were doing us proud on the field in the first innings of the recent Durham game at the Utilita Bowl, we held the first of this year's two book sales in the Club Shop.  The support and response from all of you - as well as other members of the public at the game - for our important fund-raising efforts has been amazing. In order to learn more about how much money we raised and what he have recently acquired for the HCH Collection, just click on this link below, where it is featured as the first item on the Home Page of our new website:

https://www.hampshirecountycricketheritage.co.uk/

As you browse through the various tabs and pages on the site, we hope you enjoy reading about Hampshire's progress week by week in a Journal for the 2024 English Cricket Season. I am also using this as a chance to look back on how things unfolded in the 1968 season (by way of comparison), when the major overseas stars arrived for the first time on the county circuit. Barry Richards, in his first season with us made over 2,000 first-class runs, sharing a dressing room with Roy Marshall and Derek Shackleton. The start of the JPL on Sundays was still a year way back then. For the exact page, under the Memories Tag of Every Season Tag on the HCH Website, just click on this link;

https://www.hampshirecountycricketheritage.co.uk/memories-of-every-season/johns-journal-of-the-2024-season

We are aiming to add new content nearly every week to the HCH website and another recent addition is the section with photos about each season Hampshire competed in the County Championship in the 1890's, all written by Dave Allen. Over the next twelve months, the plan is for the following decades to all be added to bring this section up to date. Use this link for the 1890's:

https://www.hampshirecountycricketheritage.co.uk/memories-of-every-season/1890s

Finally, we would like to share with you that we are now very much (Post Covid) up and running again at HCH in our fifth year of existence; we are a highly committed group of volunteers, wanting to engage actively on a more regular basis about all things HCH with all of you.

To that end, we will primarily use a monthly email to do this, instead of any future e-Magazine, pointing out some of the new additions to the various sections of the HCH website. Work continues apace, meanwhile, to get the Archive Room in even better shape for the next round of Hampshire Members Tours in late 2024 and early 2025.   

If you have any feedback or suggestions for us, please use this email any time to do just that. Please also encourage others to join HCH which now has over sixty supporters. We would love to reach our own century, with a hundred or more supporters donating to our cause by the end of the year. In out next email update, there will be details about the next two impending HCH publications (numbers 6 and 7), in a series which continues to sell very well in the Club Shop at the ground. They will each cost £5 and back copies of all previous HCH publications will be available at our next Book Sale in the Club Shop in August. 

Let's just hope now for an upturn in our red ball fortunes for the forthcoming trip to Trent Bridge and that all important first win of the season!

Best Wishes,

John Winter

HCH Website Editor