Hampshire can rely on old-stagers to produce the goods once more

BOB WILLIS TROPHY PREVIEW: Sam Northeast, Liam Dawson, James Vince... there is quality aplenty in the Hants line-up

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Ins: Scott Currie, Ajeet Dale (both youth)

Outs: Gareth Berg (Northamptonshire)

Fixtures: August 1 - Sussex (a), August 8 - Middlesex (a), August 15 - Surrey (h), August 22 - Essex (h), September 6 - Kent (a)

Remind me what happened last year?

A thoroughly comfortable campaign in the red-ball arena saw Hampshire secure a third-place finish in the County Championship. Although they could not keep pace with Essex and Somerset at the top of the standings, there was plenty about which to be optimistic.

An unexpected call to captain Sri Lanka at the World Cup scuppered overseas plans for Dimuth Karunaratne - and his replacement Aiden Markram could only hang around for a short period, while James Vince and Liam Dawson were late summons to the England squad and subsequently missed chunks of the summer.

The batting once again revolved around Sam Northeast, who somehow failed to gain the attention of Ed Smith and James Taylor with three tons and five further half-centuries, as he finished the year with an average of 51 and just shy of 1,000 runs.

Without an established opening partnership, the makeshift pairing of allrounder Ian Holland and youngster Felix Organ impressed. Both made their maiden first-class centuries, Organ is only his third Championship match.

With the ball, Kyle Abbott turned show-stopper. The South African troubled the best batting line-ups in the lands and accumulated a first-class season haul of 71 scalps at less than 16 apiece. The piece de resistance of a fantastic term for the Kolpak came towards the backend of the campaign, when he recorded match figures of 17-86 against Kent - the best return in a Championship since 1925.

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What’s happened over the winter?

A lot of administrative effort has been put into making the Ageas Bowl suitable for England’s bio-secure bubble series against West Indies, Pakistan, Ireland and Australia.

Chairman and owner Rod Bransgrove, meanwhile, has begun to speak to potential suitors about the sale of his stake in the club.

“This interest has come from India, Asia and France. If we do sell any new shares in the company, these will be only for new investors and I doubt that I shall see a return on my shareholding during my lifetime,” Bransgrove told The Cricketer. 

He is believed to have invested around £15million in Hampshire during his tenure. 

The signing of Nathan Lyon for the entire summer - a world-class spinner to add to a talented batting roster and an incisive bowling attack - had given reason to think the team might well challenge for Championship silverware. However, Covid-19 has put Lyon’s arrival on the backburner.

Who’s arrived and who’s left?

Gareth Berg has left for Northamptonshire after five seasons on the south coast. Berg played 57 times for Hampshire in first-class cricket and represented the club in two Lord’s finals but found opportunities limited during 2019.

He goes back to the club which gave him his first experience of senior cricket.

There have been no major incomings, the abandoned signing of Lyon aside. 

Who will be the key men in 2020?

Hampshire can expect Dawson and Vince to be absent for at least the first week of fixtures owing to their inclusion in England’s white-ball squad. That means that man Northeast will be at the epicentre of the batting effort once more. There is no Rilee Rossouw in red-ball cricket in 2020.

Abbott would be the focal point with the ball, but owing to visa issues and quarantine rules may not be available. With Dawson and Lyon missing there might be an opportunity for Mason Crane to establish himself in the first-class arena. Crane, capped at T20 and Test level by England, has been plagued by back problems for much of the past two years. 

What can we expect from this team this season?

Hampshire’s batting, with Vince and Dawson available, looks potent in the middle order. With spin being encouraged more by the new Bob Willis Trophy regulations, the pairing of Dawson and Crane will be interesting to watch too. 

An injury here and England selection there, though, and there might be a depth issue.

Hampshire will play all their fixtures away from the Ageas Bowl while England’s men make use of it, with ‘home’ games taking place at Arundel, placing them at an immediate disadvantage.

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