Story: Taking Hampshire to Glory

[MateGaming]

I've found t20 batting much more difficult compared to last year and it looks like you're experiencing the same?!

Could be worth a thread in the main forum to feedback and see if others are finding the same.

I've had it pretty mixed so far - my score of 249 illustrates one end of the spectrum, but my last few T20 games have been on the other end of the spectrum.

I struggled immensely in T20 last year and have fared slightly better this year, but probably haven't played enough to be able to say with certain it's because of the game just yet.

[Joe Baldwin]

I'm eagerly awaiting the release of CC2020 on Mac, and reading this story is whetting my appetite even more. Very well written, and I may shamelessly steal your format when I finally get to start my own career...

[MateGaming]

I'm eagerly awaiting the release of CC2020 on Mac, and reading this story is whetting my appetite even more. Very well written, and I may shamelessly steal your format when I finally get to start my own career...

Thank you for your kind words

Feel free to borrow anything from the way I've formatted this haha, look forward to reading your story if you post it on here!

[MateGaming]

3rd July 2020
Surrey vs Hampshire
T20 Blast (South Group)
Hampshire won the toss and elected to bat first.

Our pool of available players has been significantly weakened for our first match of July, as Shaheen Afridi has been called up for Pakistan, and James Vince has returned to the England T20 side. On a positive note, seamer Brad Wheal is back from his own international duty and immediately replaces Afridi. There is also a change at the top of the order, with Tom Alsop promoted to open alongside Rossouw, a role he is expected to fill in the upcoming One Day Cup as well. Captain James Vince is replaced by Joe Weatherley, and Sam Northeast will skipper the side in his absence.

Surrey: Short, Amla, Burns, Foakes, Stoneman, Borthwick, Jacks, Clarke, T Curran, Neser, Plunkett
Hampshire: Alsop, Rossouw, Northeast*, Weatherley, Dawson, Fuller, McManus+, Abbott, Wood, Crane, Wheal

Hampshire's new-look opening pair had started nicely, taking 19 from just the second over of the match, but Neser in particular was bowling tightly and eventually saw the back of Alsop for a promising 27, in the fifth over. It got better for the Aussie, as he trapped Northeast lbw first ball, a good start from Hampshire was quickly turning into a precarious situation.
The visitors concluded the powerplay on 49-2, but Neser struck again as he was given all four overs at the start of the innings as Weatherley also fell cheaply. The dismissals didn't halt Rossouw, who continued to find the boundary off Plunkett, Hampshire 80-3 at halfway. Rossouw cleared the cover boundary for his first maximum, but failed to bring up his fifty as he took on the fielder in what proved to be a disastrous bit of running as he fell well short of his ground. Fuller was dropped first ball, but then found the boundary twice in a Clarke over which went for 14. Short then capped off a good spell by having Fuller stumped off his final ball, and Curran delivered a tight final over to restrict the visitors to 152-6 from their 20 overs.

Wood took the new ball and his first over went for 15, not the greatest start for Hampshire who didn't have a particularly impressive total themselves. The opening pair had passed fifty, with Short being 30 off 13 at one point, but Abbott struck in his second over to remove former Hampshire overseas batsman Hashim Amla. But D'Arcy short was looking in imperious form as he brought up fifty from only 23 balls. Wheal had bowled tightly in the powerplay, but his third over went the distance as 18 runs were taken from it. Wood returned to take two wickets, but it was too late for Hampshire, whose only other cause for celebration was a wicket for Dawson. Stoneman and Borthwick saw the hosts home with 15 balls to spare, another poor performance from us with bat and ball.

Surrey won by 6 wickets
MOTM: D'Arcy Short (Surrey)
Points: Surrey 2, Hampshire 0

Another loss sees us drop to 7th in the group and we will probably need to win both of our remaining to games to have a chance of qualifying. A real shame after such a positive first half of the campaign, but losing arguably our best batsman and best bowler to international duty clearly didn't help our cause here. We stay in London as we face the same opposition in a Championship fixture in our next match.

[MateGaming]

5th July 2020
Surrey vs Hampshire
County Championship (Div 1)
Hampshire won the toss and elected to bat first.

We return to Championship action against the same side who beat us in the Blast two days prior. The same two players that were brought in for that fixture are also brought in for this one - Joe Weatherley makes his first Championship appearance of the season as he replaces the unavailable James Vince, and the returning Brad Wheal comes in for Scott Currie. Surrey are 9th in the table, compared to our fourth, so this could be a great chance to gain revenge for the defeat two days ago. On an average pitch, Hampshire chose to bat, in the hope that it would deteriorate throughout.

Surrey: Burns, Stoneman, Amla, Balbirnie, Borthwick, Foakes, Clark, T Curran, Neser, Virdi, Morkel
Hampshire: Organ, Holland, Weatherley, Northeast*, Alsop, Dawson, McManus+, Barker, Abbott, Lyon, Wheal

Hampshire's openers saw off the new ball with little trouble, but the stand was broken on 54 as Holland had his stumps sent cartwheeling by Morkel. Virdi then bowled Organ fifteen minutes before lunch. Both Weatherley and Northeast were trapped in front as they attempted to increase the scoring rate on a tricky pitch, all of Hampshire's top four getting starts but none of them passing 36. Promising spinner Virdi then took his third wicket as Alsop was caught by England opener Burns at short leg. After tea, Hampshire collapsed as they lost four wickets for 23 runs, and the last pair were able to add 28 to earn Hampshire a batting point, though they'd have been disappointed with their first innings' work after the openers had done a good job of getting through the new ball.

Surrey were able to reach stumps unscathed on 15-0 and slowly built a partnership throughout the morning, but Lyon struck in his second over as he had Stoneman caught, before Wheal found Burns' edge only to watch the ball trickle away for four. Hampshire's main spinners bowled well in tandem, and Dawson had Burns caught at slip shortly before lunch on Day 2, before Lyon had Amla caught behind in the very next over. The same bowler then trapped Borthwick in front in his next over, as Surrey had suddenly lost three wickets for eight runs in the final half an hour before lunch. The collapse got even worse as Foakes was inexplicably stumped off Dawson, as Surrey crawled to 109-5 at the interval. Twenty minutes after the restart, Balbirnie could only pick out Northeast as he tried to take Lyon over the top. Clark had some brief success against the Australian, but the ball was beginning to turn sharply and it was only a matter of time before Lyon took his fifth wicket of the innings, and his fourth five-wicket haul this season. Another frustrating partnership followed as the returning pace bowlers continually beat the bat, before Curran finally edged behind off Barker. There was little resistance thereafter, as Abbott dismissed both Neser and Virdi to limit Surrey's lead to a slender 19.

Hampshire reached parity without any loss in the eighth over as they looked to set Surrey an unassailable total. Hampshire would have been more than delighted to see out the 29 overs left on Day 2, the opening partnership unbroken on 62. 18 had been added in the first half an hour of Day 3 before Curran had Organ caught behind, but Holland brought up a patient fifty just after the hour mark. Hampshire looked very comfortable although they did score slowly throughout the rest of the morning, but they started to look more positive after lunch. Weatherley passed fifty on his first Championship of the season, taking ten off a Neser over, then Holland hit Virdi for six, before sweeping him for consecutive fours and bringing up a third Championship hundred of the season in the process. Just as runs were starting to come easier, Weatherley fell for a well-made 61, before Northeast hit a six off Virdi to kick-start his own innings. Holland continued to find the boundary with increasing regularity and ease, and stand-in skipper Northeast cut Curran for four to reach fifty. Hampshire were playing almost a shot a ball as the lead passed 300, as they looked to maybe set up a declaration towards the end of Day 3. Holland was finally bowled for a magnificent 160, an innings which spanned nearly seven hours. Northeast hit Morkel for six as he moved towards a quick hundred, which was brought up off the same bowler as he pummelled the South African through midwicket. Alsop's innings was effective as he scored at comfortably more than a run a ball, and Hampshire declared on 440-4, setting Surrey an extremely unlikely target of 422 to win.

Hampshire had four overs to make an inroad before close of play, and just as Surrey thought they'd reached stumps, Barker produced a beauty with the final ball of the day which clipped Stoneman's bails, leaving Surrey 8-1, needing a further 414. Surrey looked comfortable against the pacers but the introduction of spin with six close fielders around the bat proved too much for Amla, as he succumbed lbw to Dawson. Balbirnie tried to take the attack to Hampshire, but Wheal removed him with an inswinging yorker which pinned him in front, and the same bowler accounted for opener Burns after lunch. Lyon hadn't been quite so effective in the second innings, but managed to have Borthwick caught behind as he pushed forward, Hampshire needing only five wickets to win now. Clark offered Dawson the easiest caught-and-bowled chance he could have hoped for. Curran and Foakes offered staunt resistance, though, as the spinners struggled to break through. Eventually the new ball became available and it paid dividends as Abbott bowled Curran for a very valuable 38. Hampshire were throwing everything they had at the Surrey batsmen, but they just wouldn't budge, until Foakes' incredible defensive rearguard innings came to an end on 52, an innings which had lasted in excess of three hours. With fifteen minutes remaining and still two wickets required, every fielder was within two metres of the cut strip, and Dawson removed Neser which sparked huge anticipation from the fielders. In a race against time, Lyon came agonisingly close to finding Morkel's edge but only one over remained. Virdi and Morkel were completely surrounded by fielders, but miraculously had managed to survive the final over, in what will undoubtably go down as one of the most thrilling ends to a Championship game in recent memory, Hampshire falling agonisingly short of victory.

Match drawn
MOTM: Ian Holland (Hampshire)
Points: Surrey 9, Hampshire 9

An amazing game but the result could have been so different. In hindsight, we probably could have afforded to declare slightly earlier but in a game of the finest margins, we fell just short of what would have been a huge victory in the context of the season. We stay in fourth place, 32 points behind leaders Somerset who have played one extra game. After the match, Nathan Lyon joined Australia's ODI team, as James Vince returned from England duty in which he didn't play, as England beat Australia 2-1 in a T20I series. We also have two new youth players for the remainder of the season: 18-year-old batsman Neil McGregor and 18-year-old wicketkeeper Andrew Kingsley.

[MateGaming]

10th July 2020
Hampshire vs Middlesex
T20 Blast (South Group)
Middlesex won the toss and elected to bowl first.

Hampshire were inserted on a flat pitch at the Ageas Bowl, in the first of two must-win games if they are to qualify for latter stages of the competition. James Vince returns from international duty and immediately resumes at the top order, with Tom Alsop dropping back down to four. Joe Weatherley is the man to miss out in his place. In our last match against this opposition, we scored a massive 249-1 batting first, so a similar performance would definitely be appreciated.

Hampshire: Vince*, Rossouw, Northeast, Alsop, Dawson, Fuller, McManus+, Abbott, Wood, Crane, Wheal
Middlesex: Gubbins, Robson, Eskinazi, Marsh, Barnes, Holden, Simpson, Harris, Roland-Jones, Finn, Cummins

Hampshire didn't start quite as well as in the previous fixture, and, in truth, the Middlesex bowlers were very unlucky to not take an early wicket as they beat the bat on more than one occasion, and multiple skied shots fell out of the reach of the fielders. However, despite being wicketless, the bowlers managed to keep the runs down and Hampshire were barely at more than a run a ball at the halfway stage. But 15 then came off Finn's final over, and then Rossouw hit three boundaries off the next to reach fifty, a good innings from the South African who was taking charge, with Vince scoring at exactly one a ball. Marsh went the distance at Lord's and looked like doing so again here as his first over cost 12 runs, the Hampshire pair now going on the attack after the partnership passed 100. But he fought back in his next over as he had Vince caught behind for a sedate 43, an innings he may well be disappointed with. By the end of the over, Hampshire were 122-1, knowing they could go hard in the last five overs with still nine wickets in hand. But instead, they collapsed, as a pathetic performance from their middle order saw batsmen 4-8 add only three runs in total between them. Rossouw again finished not out against Middlesex, this time on 91 from 57 balls, an outstanding knock from him but he didn't have anywhere near enough support from the rest, as Hampshire reached a very disappointing 158-7.

Middlesex started brightly by taking 16 off Abbott's opening over, Gubbins in particular, looking in good form. None of the Hampshire bowlers were able to have any sort of control, and the visitors had reached 65-0 after 5 overs, well in control of the game. Sloppy fielding and misfields meant that the partnership passed 100, with both openers reaching fifty in the ninth over. Fuller bowled an over which went for 17, and Middlesex just had an answer to everything Hampshire threw at them. With one run required from six overs, the captain brought himself on and his only ball was hit for four, Middlesex absolutely crushing Hampshire in a demoralising defeat by ten wickets, both batsmen finishing on 80*, career-best T20 scores for both of them.

Middlesex won by 10 wickets
MOTM: Nick Gubbins (Middlesex)
Points: Hampshire 0, Middlesex 2

So we've had probably our best performance and worst performance both against Middlesex. Our start looked positive with a good opening stand, but our middle order just collapsed completely, and our bowlers were all dreadful. We now have no chance of qualifying so the side will be rotated for our final match, which is against second-placed Essex.

[MateGaming]

12th July 2020
Essex vs Hampshire
T20 Blast (South Group)
Hampshire won the toss and elected to bowl first

Hampshire make four changes for their final match in this season's T20 Blast against an Essex side who have had a good competition so far. There are three T20 debutants in Hampshire's side, in the form of new youth recruit Neil McGregor, all-rounder Scott Currie and young fast bowler Ajeet Dale. All-rounder Tom Scriven also plays his first and only match since the end of the 2018 T20 season - just his second T20 appearance in his career. The four players to miss out from the previous match are James Fuller, Lewis McManus, Kyle Abbott and Mason Crane.

Essex: Chopra, Lawrence, A Cook, Delport, Wheater, ten Doeschate, Morris, Beard, Harmer, S Cook, Porter
Hampshire: Vince*, Rossouw, Northeast, Alsop+, Dawson, McGregor, Currie, Scriven, Wood, Wheal, Dale

Wood's first over went for just three runs, but Chopra attacked Wheal, taking him for two sixes in the second over of the innings. Wood saw him off in the next over, and had England legend Sir Alastair Cook the very next ball as he took a sharp return catch. Delport hit the hat-trick ball for four, and then went a step further as he hit a six in Wood's next over. Dawson bowled two powerplay overs and conceded only eight runs, a great effort from one of the two experienced bowlers in the team. The youngsters struggled though, as 12 and 17 came off Dale and Currie's first overs respectively. Scriven's first ball then went for six as Delport passed fifty, scoring at a huge strike rate, to take Essex to 99-2 at halfway. The blossoming partnership was finally broken when young Tom Scriven trapped Lawrence in front for his first professional wicket. Dale continued to travel the distance, as did Wheal before he trapped Delport for a thrilling 81. Dale's last over went for just seven as he also took his first professional wicket, removing ten Doeschate. Former Hampshire keeper Wheater ensured Essex would easily surpass 200, as he hit five boundaries in a final over that cost 21 runs, as Essex finished on 212-5.

After Essex had made batting look so easy, Hampshire would have wanted a good start from their openers, and, to be fair, they provided one, passing fifty by the end of the fifth over. They concluded the fielding restrictions on 56-0 and by no means out of the game yet. Rossouw took a liking to Harmer as he took ten runs from the final two balls of his first over, and eighteen came from S Cook's first as Hampshire attacked. Harmer continued and drew Rossouw out of his crease, the South African stumped for 41. Northeast hit his second ball for six, and Vince reached fifty from 32 balls. At halfway, Hampshire were in a decent position at 102-1, but Cook responded brilliantly to an expensive first over by removing Vince the very next ball. Alsop was immediately into his stride as he cleared the straight boundary off Cook, but Harmer was on hand to dismiss Northeast, though the batsman looked very disappointed with the decision as he felt it had hit him outside the line. Debutant McGregory hit three early boundaries, but Hampshire required 56 from the final four overs. McGregor hit a monstrous six off Beard and repeated the feat in Cook's final over, which went for 19 as Dawson also cleared the boundary. Dawson dispatched a Beard full-toss to the boundary before also hitting the final ball of the over for four, leaving Hampshire sixteen to win from the final over, bowled by Chris Morris. Dawson was caught in the circle, but Currie hit his first ball for four to give Hampshire a chance. He missed the next but connected beautifully with the penultimate delivery as he cleared the boundary. Needing five to win from the final ball, he missed the ball outside off, leaving Hampshire agonisingly short of what would have been a magnificent run chase.

Essex won by 4 runs
MOTM: Cameron Delport
Points: Essex 2, Hampshire 0

Another defeat to end our competition, but certainly not a performance we should be too disheartened about. With a significantly weakened attack, it was clear we would struggle with the ball, but some promising signs were shown with one or two of the younger bowlers. With the bat, we were very good, with Vince and Rossouw starting very well and decent contributions throughout. McGregor was particularly impressive on debut as he finished on 35*, he would be sure to get a look-in with the One Day Cup fast approaching. We finish eighth of the group, ahead of Glamorgan only on net run rate, but it could easily have been a different story if we had been able to pick up one or two more wins along the way.

[MateGaming]

19th July 2020
Hampshire vs Worcestershire
One Day Cup (Group A)
Hampshire won the toss and elected to bat first.

With the start of the One Day Cup also comes the start of the Hundred, and also comes with us losing most of our best white-ball players, leaving us with a very thin squad for this competition. Our first match is at home against Worcestershire, and there are three List A debutants for Hampshire: youth regen players Andrew Kingsley (opening with Tom Alsop) and Neil McGregor, as well as home-grown all-rounder Tom Scriven. Sam Northeast takes the role of captain as James Vince is in the Hundred, along with Rilee Rossouw, Liam Dawson, Kyle Abbott, Mason Crane, Shaheen Afridi and Chris Wood, leaving us with a significantly depleted squad. But we'll do our best, knowing that other teams are still in similar positions to us.

Hampshire: Alsop, Kingsley, Northeast*, McGregor, Taylor, Holland, Fuller, McManus+, Scriven, Wheal, Edwards
Worcestershire: Rutherford, Mitchell, Fell, Libby, Dell, Leach, Coles, Milton, Morris, Tongue, Ellery

Hampshire began well with Kingsley hitting two boundaries in the first over, and they had reached 31-0 after the first five overs, a good start from the two openers. However, Morris then bowled the debutant for 10, but Northeast hit his first two balls four, narrowly avoiding being caught by a fielder from the second. Alsop was dropped off Leach, but chipped a return catch to the impressive Morris in the next over. McGregor had impressed on debut last time out and was immediately into his stride, hitting Morris straight down the ground, but Leach trapped Northeast early to leave Hampshire in trouble at 49-3. Leach bowled his ten overs straight and recorded excellent figures of 37-1 as Hampshire tried to rebuild their innings. However, the change bowlers lacked control and the Hampshire batsmen, particularly Taylor, started to look comfortable. Taylor hit former Hampshire bowler Matt Coles for six in an expensive first spell as he passed his previous best List A score and McGregor reached a patient fifty as Hampshire began to accelerate with fifteen overs remaining. But the debutant was then bowled for a promising 51, before Taylor was unlucky to fall lbw for a very impressive 91. Holland could only manage 16 but Fuller and McManus combined towards the end to see Hampshire up to 263-6 after 50 overs. They certainly wouldn't have seen the score as a disaster, as they knew that the key to winning the game was held in removing Worcestershire's top order early.

Hampshire's first success came when Wheal struck at the start of the sixth over; Rutherford was looking in good touch, but Mitchell was trapped lbw by the Scotland international. Rutherford hit two boundaries in Taylor's first over and then passed fifty with a single off Fuller. Fell was really struggling against the quick bowler, and he eventually had him caught at slip to break a promising partnership, in which Rutherford was scoring quickly. Libby hit a straight six off Holland, but the huge breakthrough came when Wheal returned to remove the New Zealander, Rutherford for 69. Libby was then bowled by the economical Holland, but a single Taylor over cost 23 runs as Leach went on the attack. The dangerous all-rounder was caught behind off Fuller, and the same bowler had Coles plumb in front two balls later. Worcestershire's final recognised batsman, Dell, was trapped lbw by Edwards as they began to crumble. Taylor returned to bowl both Morris and Tongue, before a decent tenth-wicket partnership followed to worry Hampshire slightly. The nerves would have increased further when young spinner Ellery hit Edwards for six, but the same bowler had him caught at mid on three balls later to win the match for Hampshire, by 26 runs.

Hampshire won by 26 runs
MOTM: Brad Taylor (Hampshire)
Points: Hampshire 2, Worcestershire 2

So a good start to our One Day campaign for the first season. With all but one of the other games in our group rained off, we sit second in the table behind Essex. Plenty to be encouraged about after that performance, including a very good all-round performance from Brad Taylor, who will be an important member of the One Day side this year. McGregor was quietly impressive again with a debut fifty, and James Fuller was excellent with the ball. Next, we travel to Lord's to take on Middlesex.