MATCH PREVIEW: Hampshire v Lancashire
Both of these counties were struck down by the weather during the opening round, with Hampshire not even setting foot onto the field as their fixture with Durham at the Riverside was washed out without a ball bowled.
Hampshire v Lancashire
Vitality County Championship, Division One
Friday April 12 - Monday April 15, 2024, 11am
Utilita Bowl, Southampton
Lancashire were slightly better, with at least one innings completed against Surrey at Emirates Old Trafford.
In the end, both Lancashire and Hampshire claimed eight points apiece from their respective fixtures.
This weekend has the prospect of being a fascinating, high-quality fixture, one which pits Red Rose coach Dale Benkenstein against the county he was in charge of for two-and-a-half seasons up until midway through the 2016 summer.
Just as Benkenstein does with Lancashire, Hampshire coach Adi Birrell will also believe his side can be the ones who end Surrey’s bid to win a trio of successive Championship titles.
Tom Bailey is in line to make his 100th first-class appearance for Lancashire in this fixture.
The seamer, 35, has taken 358 wickets in 99 appearances for his home county since debuting in 2012.
The round one Surrey draw was actually Bailey’s 100th first-class career appearance, having played once for the England Lions. He struck once for them in India 11 years ago.
Opposition:
Hampshire finished last season in third, behind Surrey and Essex in second.
Surrey won eight games in winning the title, a haul which Hampshire matched. No other county across either division of the competition matched that haul.
Coached by South African Birrell, they continue to be captained by England fringe batter James Vince.
A recent force in limited overs cricket, Hampshire have only won two Championship titles in their history - one in 1961 and the other in 1973.
Seamers Kyle Abbott (South Africa) and Muhammad Abbas (Pakistan) have returned to the Utilita Bowl as overseas players, and both had been named in a 12-player squad for the opening round clash with Durham last weekend.
Opening batter Ali Orr, a winter signing from Sussex, could make his debut in this fixture.
Previous meeting:
Lancashire won the only Division One clash between these two counties last season, by six wickets at Southport in mid-June.
This was a game set-up by a superb display with ball and then bat on day one. Hampshire were bowled out for just 142 before tea, with seamers Tom Bailey and Will Williams claiming three wickets apiece. New Zealander Williams finished with the stunning figures of 3-14 from 15 overs.
Then, Phil Salt hit 76 not out in 139-1 at close.
Opener Salt and George Balderson (51) shared 115 for the first wicket, and the former went on to reach 103 on day two - the feature innings in the Red Rose’s 374 all out.
Part-time spinner Felix Organ finished with six wickets.
Hampshire almost matched that total in their second innings, across days two and three, making 371 all out. Captain James Vince top-scored with 87 and Balderson struck three times with his ever-improving seamers.
That meant the hosts were left chasing a target of 140, a task they set out to achieve during the latter stages of day three (48-2 at close).
Hampshire would have felt they had a sniff at the start of day four, but stand-in captain Dane Vilas (Keaton Jennings was missing with his hamstring injury) ended such hopes with a well paced 64 not out off 85 balls.
In posting his first fifty of the season, Vilas shared 87 for the third wicket with Josh Bohannon (37) as the win was secured before lunch.
What they said:
Lancashire signed Keaton Jennings at the end of 2017. Had Dale Benkenstein had his way, however, the move to Emirates Old Trafford wouldn’t have happened.
As Jennings weighed up his options in the lead-up to the move to the North West, Benkenstein was interested in taking him down to Hampshire.
As it was, Benkenstein had left the South Coast by the time Jennings finally made his decision to move from Durham, and it was Lancashire who caught his eye.
Benkenstein and Jennings go way back. They played together at Durham, and the former was a huge influence on the opener’s first steps into English cricket in 2011 having moved over here from South Africa.
Thankfully, the pair are now working together again - as captain and coach of our great county.
In the build-up to this weekend’s clash with Hampshire, Jennings was asked to reflect on his move to Lancashire and the reasons why he made the decision to swap the North East for the North West.
“It was a group of things,” he said.
“For me, I looked at the surface at EOT. I felt like that suited the way I played.
“My game against spin had progressed, and I felt like this was the type of surface where if you got through (the new ball) then spin would play a key role from a batting point of view.
“I also felt like Lancashire were shaping up quite nicely as a squad. Paul Allott (then cricket director) backed me at the time, which was awesome.
“There was a bit of a gut feel about it.
“Thankfully, Benky has moved here. He’s a guy I’ve always admired and respected.
“When I was an 18 or 19-year-old at Durham, I remember us driving home together and chewing the fat. He would throw me balls as well. The energy that he put into me as a young player, he made me feel really welcome. I’m over the moon that he’s working with us and is here to add value.”
This is Jennings’ seventh season with Lancashire, and his second as captain. He is clearly loving it here.
“It’s also progressed me outside of cricket,” he added. “So, for my life as well, it’s been the right move.
“The club from a commercial point of view have pushed me, they backed me in getting my MBA. Maybe Durham would have, I don’t know. But the way this club has pushed me has been really nice.”
How’s Stat!
Lancashire have not lost a first-class match at the Utilita Bowl, or the Rose Bowl as it was first known when Hampshire moved there in 2001 from Northlands Road in Southampton.
The Red Rose have visited to play 12 Championship matches, winning four times (2002, 2008, 2011 and 2018) and drawing the other eight, including the last visit in 2022.
Lancashire’s last away Championship defeat against Hampshire came in July 1989 at Portsmouth, a game in which the late, great Malcolm Marshall played in for the hosts.