Away wins needed in second half of season

THE second division of the County Championship is shaping up rather differently this year to previous seasons.

Four sides - Nottinghamshire, Glamorgan, Yorkshire and ourselves - are leading the chase for the three promotion slots with a sizeable gap opening up over the rest. What is remarkable though is the number of games that are being won by the top teams.

In past years, five, perhaps six, wins would be enough to secure sufficient points to go up. This year it is likely to be two or three more than that. To win the division, perhaps ten or eleven wins will be needed.

Part of the reason for this is that teams have nothing to lose in the second division. Counties in the top tier are often as frightened of relegation as they are keen to win the Championship title, prompting matches of cautious cricket which commonly end in draws.

Home teams seem to prefer playing on flat wickets, producing a plethora of runs and bonus points rather than risking losing points to close rivals on result pitches. As the season goes on and if the table remains tight, these tactics are likely to be even more apparent.

Contrast this to the teams in the lower tier, to whom the 14 points available for a win are just too tempting. There is no point being content with mid-table mediocrity; at worst one might as well shoot for the top places and fall short trying. Pitches are produced that are more likely to provide 40 wickets over four days and barring interruptions by the weather, results usually occur.

Results are certainly not hard to come by at the bowler-friendly Rose Bowl, but it's important that they continue to go our way. Not only will victories keep us within touching distance of the leaders, Nottinghamshire, but also are essential given the difficulties teams have in gleaning batting bonus points at our place. We are 46 points behind Notts with two games in hand, but are 21 batting points short of them - the equivalent to a win and a half. After this week's important clash with Yorkshire at the Rose Bowl, we will have played six out of eight matches on home turf. Wins in the second half of the season might be harder to come by given better batting conditions around the country, but at least it should provide us with some extra bonus points.

'Missing' point could be vital

Talking of bonus points, we were deprived of our third bowling point last week against Somerset in extraordinary fashion. Normally, points are awarded on taking the third, sixth and ninth wickets of an innings, though with two players unfit to bat for the visitors, we were only able to claim eight wickets before they were effectively all out. In the rules, not taking a ninth wicket in such circumstances means that one cannot be awarded the final point, though since we were deprived of the opportunity only by such peculiar circumstances, it does seem an oversight in the competition's rules.

It appears there is nothing that we can do about it, though no doubt it will be looked at and quite possibly changed by the ECB in the off-season. We just hope that point is not crucial in the mix in September.

Injuries did seem to be the theme of our comfortable victory against Somerset though. Both sides lost two seamers. Richard Johnson (ankle ligaments after treading on the ball) and Keith Parsons (back strain putting a sock on in the morning!) were the visitors casualties, whilst Dimi Mascarenhas and Shane Watson succumbed to a back problem and a hamstring strain respectively, both in more conventional circumstances whilst bowling.

Watson scores century on debut

However, Shane still managed to play a major part in taking the match away from the visitors with a magnificent unbeaten 112 in the second innings. I was fortunate to have the honour of running for him during this knock and was able to watch from close quarters another Australian prodigy in full flight. His balance, shot selection and ball striking on a difficult wicket were simply outstanding as he became only the fifth Hampshire player to score a century on debut. We hope his injury will have cleared up in time for the Twenty20 competition that starts next week, as on this form he could excel.

Other players that shone were Michael Brown, who found some form with his first innings 80, and Chris Tremlett, who again led the way with the ball and also hit an invaluable career best 57 with the bat. Shaun Udal, who captained the match, continued his superb batting form with two half-centuries at important times and led the troops expertly.

It doesn't matter who's captain!

Several people have asked me how I felt not captaining the side after doing so in Warney's absence at Headingley last month. Of course, I would have been honoured if asked, but Paul Terry explained that he wanted me to concentrate on my batting form, which has been rather thin of late. I was totally comfortable with this and certainly had not expected to automatically be given the role. We are fortunate that we have several players in the side who are capable of leading the troops and it was made clear to us at the start of the season that when Warney was missing the appointment would be made on an ad hoc basis. The important things are that individuals perform, the side comes together and we win. The rest is peripheral and that's the way it should be.

After the current game against Yorkshire, we take a break from the Championship for a month or so. The popular Twenty20 Cup takes over for the next two or three weeks, with the Rose Bowl playing host to games against Middlesex and Kent. Those who came along last year will know that these are great fun to watch and provide a wonderful spectacle. Tickets are still available from the website www.hampshirecricket.com or call 0870 243 0291. We hope you might be able to make it.

Twenty20 international

The Rose Bowl will stage the first ever Twenty20 Cup international match between England and Australia on Monday June 13th next year. Hampshire will play Australia in a warm-up match there two days earlier.