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A novel sort of day at a novelty sort of ground
- Updated: May 23, 2016
Nottinghamshire 99 for 5 (McLaren 3-17) trail Hampshire 270 (Alsop 72, Gurney 4-61) by 171 runsScorecard
As a Hampshire fan, you’d be hard pressed to recall a better day this season. Not only did they get to celebrate the brilliance of one of their own, as academy product and Rowde native Tom Alsop scored his maiden Championship fifty. But they also pegged back a Nottinghamshire attack that, for all their sharp work with the ball, were found wanting with the bat.
It’s a strangely built ground, the Ageas Bowl: it has the approach of a service station and the feel of a picturesque novelty ground. While it’s not quite Paul Getty’s Wormsley estate, there is an artificial charm to Rod Bransgrove’s passion project. Many years ago, he stood at the top of the Pavilion and claimed that, from his vantage point, you could see three-quarters of the county. The new hotel has put a dent in that fraction somewhat.
But it is all part of a wider business plan to make Hampshire a more viable consumer product. Rod Stewart is set to play to 20,000 here on June 10. Cricket has twice come close to replicating that figure when Australia have been in town for limited overs matches: a far cry from today, in (Maggie) May, where spectators sat in clusters but knowing every seat was up for grabs.
There is an appreciation among them that everything here is a work in progress, especially their worth as a Division One side. Avoiding relegation last year was a feat that would be eclipsed by another seventh-placed finish this season. They currently sit bottom of the pile but, for parts of the day, they would have fooled you into thinking that they were the established force and Nottinghamshire were the ones elbowing for room to eat at the high table.
Nothing summed that up quite like the battle between Tino Best and Michael Lumb, which …
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