A YOUTHFUL Hampshire Cricket side heads to Trent Bridge today, aiming to bring home silverware in the form of the Metro Bank One Day Cup.

The side has impressed throughout the limited-overs competition this season, fielding a young team supported by more experienced players including the likes of Nick Gubbins, Ben Brown and Ian Holland.

Hampshire will now take on Leicestershire at Trent Bridge and, having last won the competition in 2018, captain Gubbins believes the team is in a strong place to replicate that feat.

“Obviously we are really excited,” Gubbins said. “We’ve worked really hard to get this far so I think the message now is just to enjoy it, really.

“It’s great to get the group back together. Obviously, it’s been a while since we’ve played one day cricket with a bit of a champo [County Championship] block in between, but it’s really good to be back and we are raring to go for Saturday.”

Gubbins has established himself as Hampshire’s One Day Cup captain, taking on the responsibility of leading a more youthful side in the absence of club captain James Vince, who led Southern Brave in The Hundred recently.

On leading the side, Gubbins said: “It’s been really fun. There’s a great group of young players here and they’ve learnt so much in the two years of winning games of cricket for Hampshire. We’re really excited to showcase what this young side can do.

“I feel like we’ve built on really nicely from last year where we may have won a lot of games but didn’t necessarily play too well at times, whereas this year we’ve played really well and deserve to be in the final.”

With only one defeat in the group stage, Hampshire secured a commanding second-place finish in Group A, before overseeing Worcestershire in a home quarter-final at The Ageas Bowl and securing their place in the final after an impressive victory over Warwickshire at Edgbaston last month.

Hampshire’s only defeat so far in 2023’s competition came at the hands of fellow finalists Leicestershire, who remain unbeaten in the tournament this year.

“Clearly they are a very good side, unbeaten in this year’s competition which says it all really and we expect a really tough game from them,” said Gubbins.

He added: “They have some really quality players who came to The Ageas Bowl, and we lost a tight game against them where they played really well and deserved the win. We, we are looking to get one back on them on Saturday. 

“We weren’t really at our best that game; we had a collapse where we probably should have put them out the game, so the fact we took them so close despite effectively messing up the game gives us confidence, but we all know what cricket is like – it’s on the day, whoever turns up, whoever puts in that match-winning performance from an individual and team perspective.”

Ahead of taking his team out onto the pitch at Trent Bridge, with silverware on the line, Gubbins concluded: “It’s been awesome to captain this side, in Vincey’s (James Vince) absence with The Hundred going on, so it’s been a real pleasure for me to do that.

“The cherry on the cake now is leading the boys out on Saturday. We are really looking forward to it and seeing what we can do.”

You can next see Hampshire in action at the Ageas Bowl on Tuesday, September 26, for the final game of the 2023 County Championship season. Tickets are available at www.ageasbowl.com