Hampshire will play Kent at Newclose on Tuesday (22nd August) in the final group stage round of the domestic one-day cup.
At the time of writing, both sides could yet qualify for the knock-out stages of the tournament with Hampshire currently occupying 2nd place and Kent in 4th place in Group A. The side who finishes top of the group will automatically qualify for a home semi-final, while 2nd and 3rd place will play each other to determine the other semi-finalist.
Although both counties will be missing some players due to their involvement in The Hundred, there will be some exceptional talent on display, with players from both teams having turned in top performances over the course of the tournament.
Hampshire thrashed Yorkshire by 177 runs in their last game, with Tom Prest scoring a century. Openers Nick Gubbins and Fletcha Middleton have also been in the runs for the Southampton-based side.
Meanwhile, Kent narrowly lost a thrilling game to Nottinghamshire off the penultimate ball of the contest last time out. England leg-spinner Matt Parkinson has been their top wicket-taker while the dangerous Daniel Bell-Drummond has topped their batting averages.
When Hampshire played at Newclose last year against Nothamptonshire, the Island was in the middle of a heatwave and the ground was brown and dry (see picture below). However, this year’s wetter summer has seen groundsman Andy Butler and the volunteers helping around the ground struggling to keep up with the growth of the grass (see picture above).
Graham Cooper, the volunteer at Newclose leading on major fixtures, said:
“The day before the game last year we received an Level 3 Amber Heatwave Warning, this year it feels like I am looking at the weather forecast and rain radar every few minutes to check we are not going to get another deluge.”
However, the current forecast for Tuesday is dry and sunny and it should be a beautiful day for cricket.
Graham added:
“Ticket sales are progressing well and like last year we expect a sell-out; sadly a number of people were turned away at the gate last year as they didn’t have a ticket and we strongly recommend that tickets are purchased in advance.”
As the ground is passed to the control of Hampshire Cricket for the fixture there are no tickets on sale locally but they can be purchased online here. Tickets start at just £5 for Under-17s.
This is the 3rd Hampshire fixture at Newclose since Hampshire returned in 2019 after a 57 year break and, last month, the Southern Vipers played their 1st game at the County Ground in a narrow defeat to The Blaze.
