Well I was one of many to be premature in calling out Hants fate. I’m no great fan of County Cricket, but after two weekends of Cup Final defeats I’m delighted to read Saints fans enjoying something! Oh bugger. Saints are about to play. That’s everyone ****ed then!
See, it's never over all you doom & gloom merchants, I always had confidence! Never in doubt that we'd stay up. In all honesty I was amazed when I got back from my walkies on the Common and asked my master to put the TV on and check the score for me.
During our match with Surrey, when lots of wickets fell relatively cheaply (OK, our second innings was awful), it occurred to me that the ECB might give us another points deduction, for another 'poor' pitch. So, although we think we're safe and still playing in Div 1 next season, the ECB might still have other ideas. Unlikely, I know, but nothing is ever simple or clear-cut with Hampshire
There wasn't much wrong with the pitch, it was a result that was down to Hampshire incompetence and a Surrey secret weapon. With the Durham collapse, perhaps there are questions about that Yorkshire pitch?
Simple! Deduct Yorkshire 30 points! In reality, Durham took Hampshire's awful batting to another level.
Our friend Varma has just won the Asia Cup for India, vs Pakistan. He's averaging over 50 in t20s for India.
Chris Woakes has retired from international Cricket . Great player , great servant . Good luck for the future Chris and Thank You .
Wish he could join Middlesex!! Good time to bow out, leaving behind a good legacy of great service, wonderful team player and a fine example of a sportsperson for future generations.
For the second year running, a Hampshire player has been named County Championship MVP. Last year Liam Dawson, this year Kyle Abbott. Dawson had a monster year in 2024 so that was no surprise. While Kyle had a great season, I am somewhat surprised he's been named 2025 MVP. Hameed would have been my choice, a run machine this year for the newly crowned champions. Although it could be claimed Kyle has kept us up virtually on his own so his value to us was immense.
Currie went for £185,000 in the ILT20 auction - the 2nd highest behind Andre Fletcher! Dawson got £126,000. But that's incredible for Currie who may well draw interest in other franchise T20 leagues.
I was hunting around for any county cricket gossip and an interesting name popped up, some random possible link with Northants, Matt Renshaw. An Australian with a British passport who played for Somerset several times. I'd gladly take him as Orr's new opening partner, his stats are good. Let's hope he's being considered, Giles are you reading this??!
In women’s World Cup, England bowled SA out for 69, then easily passed that score for no loss of wicket.
Talking of Hampshire, lots of work to do over the winter. Need a new head coach and bowling coach at least. And TBH, I would consider getting a new batting coach too! Plus strengthening the playing squad.
The fact that we tried to get Peter Moores is a strong indication that we don't yet see Jimmy as ready to takeover. White's contacts will be somewhat limited, I assume, so it could come down to how much GMR are willing to spend. Losing Welch could be a big blow.
