County Championship Preview: Hampshire
Hampshire slipped to 3rd on the last day last season. Can they claim the big prize this year?
Hampshire narrowly lost out on 2nd place last season on the final match after Losing to Warwickshire in a Dramatic final session. But the Team lead by James Vince has a lot of talent and has shown it for several years with Vince himself scoring 839 runs.
He will be available for the full season as England honours have now passed him by with his style being to make the most stylish 30 possible before nicking off to a beauty. Their Batting wasn’t that strong compared to Surrey or Lancashire last season but their bowling was a real strength with South African Kyle Abbot, Pakistani Mohammad Abbas backed up by probably the best Left-Arm Red Ball bowler in the country Keith Barker.
Why England honours never came for Barker is a bit of a mystery but he keeps producing even at the age of 36 with 52 wickets last season while Abbas’s ruthless accuracy had 50 scalps and Abbot’s pace had 58. They also have Young-Scotsman Brad Wheal who looks a fine player with James Fuller providing an option with much more Batting to balance the side. For Spin they have Liam Dawson who was one of the stand-out spinners in the country last season.
Felix Organ is a good young Opener who scored 726 runs last year while still being just 23 years old. Nick Gubbins and Wicket-Keeper Ben Brown also chipped in with an over 35 average each to round out the consistent if not exciting batting order that propelled Hampshire into Title contention last year.
Predicted Line-Up:
Felix Organ
Ian Holland
Joe Weatherley
Nick Gubbins
James Vince
Liam Dawson
Ben Brown (WK)
Keith Barker
James Fuller
Kyle Abbot
Mohammad Abbas
Previous Previews: