2015 Season Review: LV= County Championship

Following a victorious 2014 four-day campaign which saw Hampshire crowned Champions and promoted to Division One, the 2015 season began with optimism and hope that survival could be comfortably achieved.

Whilst the finish may have been tighter than hoped for, Hampshire secured their top tier status on the final day of the season, after looking unlikely to achieve such a feat with a large point deficit with just five games to go.

A century from all-rounder Sean Ervine saw a positive draw taken from the first match of the season and two more drawn results followed against expected title-contenders Warwickshire and Nottinghamshire, ensuring an unbeaten April to start the campaign.

Despite a difficult away defeat against reigning champions Yorkshire to begin May, two further comfortable draws helped Hampshire’s consolidate their position further.

With a tough trip to Sussex in their next clash and still searching for an important first win, a valuable victory was achieved courtesy of an Adam Wheater century, a Gareth Berg 99 and 4-67 and a fiery five-wicket haul from Fidel Edwards.

Hopeful that the result from Hove could kick-start a charge up the table, three defeats in as many games soon after thwarted these hopes and with just six games remaining, Hampshire remained locked in a battle to avoid relegation.

After a balanced first three days of their next fixture against Durham, a sharp turn of events saw a thrilling fourth day finish with young duo Lewis McManus and Mason Crane sharing an unbeaten 10^th wicket stand to save the game and ensure a nail-biting draw.

Warwickshire were then the visitors to the The Ageas Bowl for the penultimate home fixture of the season and following a positive opening day, Fidel Edwards and Mason Crane ripped through the visitors batting line-up to dismiss them for just 125 in their first-innings. James Vince then equalled their total himself in a brilliant unbeaten knock to set a required target which proved to be too much for Varun Chopra’s side, to see Hampshire claim a crucial second win of the season.

A third then soon followed with Durham defeated by a resurgent travelling Hampshire side – a result which saw them move within touching distance of other survival hopefuls.

Adams then produced his best four-day performance of the season notching his first century of the campaign and helping to keep Somerset at bay – a result which secured another vital draw to leave Hampshire in eighth place with two games remaining.

Liam Dawson was to be the star in the final home-fixture of 2015, striking 140 against already confirmed champions Yorkshire, to put his side in a strong position at the half-way stage.

However with the third day almost completely lost to rain, a bold declaration saw a positive result snatched away with Andrew Gale’s side ultimately seizing victory. This meant that with just one game remaining, Hampshire were 16 points adrift from safety, needing to beat Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge whilst also hoping Sussex would lose their final match against Yorkshire.

Although survival seemed unlikely, the great escape was on and Fidel Edwards began by taking exceptional figures of 6-88 helping his side assume control. An excellent partnership between Gareth Berg and Ryan McLaren then solidified their strong position as Edwards then starred again to finish with 10 wickets in the match. Michael Carberry and Adams played an important role in chasing down their target of 200 earning the sensational victory.

With the result confirmed early on day four, a nervous wait ensued but with Sussex collapsing dramatically against Yorkshire to see them fall to defeat, the great escape was completed – an astonishing turnaround meaning a place in the top tier awaits Hampshire once again next season.