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Sean Ervine Looking Forward to 'Strong' 2016 Season
Sean Ervine Looking Forward to 'Strong' 2016 Season
The all-rounder shares his thoughts following the release of Hampshire's 2016 fixtures
The excitement of next year’s 2016 cricket season was heightened further this week with Hampshire’s 2016 fixtures announced in full for the first time on Wednesday.
Hampshire are set to face Warwickshire in the opening County Championship contest of the season beginning on Sunday 10th April, with defending champions Yorkshire and Middlesex completing Hants’ opening three games in Division One.
All-rounder, Sean Ervine, is preparing for his 11th season with the club and played a prominent role in the side that secured survival in the four-day competition’s top tier last season. The 32-year-old will likely be important to the club’s successes once again in 2016, and he hopes that the team can begin confidently when the season commences in April.
I’m looking forward to next season – it’s going to be a strong year and hopefully one that we can push for championship honours as well as competing well in the other formats. We’d like to challenge ourselves by facing strong teams to begin and all the teams are strong this year which will be a good challenge. We’ve made some quality signings over the winter too so we’ll be raring to go and hope to begin the season strongly.
Sean Ervine
It was also announced that weekend NatWest T20 Blast action will return to the The Ageas Bowl next season as James Vince’s side begin their quest to reach a seventh consecutive finals day.
The T20 Blast competition sees Hampshire travel to Uxbridge to face Middlesex in an away South Group fixture for the first time since 2011. Hampshire have won the last three fixtures played at the venue, with Ervine himself contributing two game-winning half-centuries in that time.
It’s been good to play there and I’m looking forward to playing there again – we’ve dominated games at Uxbridge in the past so it’s nice to see in the fixtures that we get to return this year. Hopefully the weather stays good and we can get plenty of support to begin the competition with a win.
Sean Ervine
Hampshire will also be seeking success in this year’s Royal London One-Day Cup competition having reached the quarter-final stage last season. The 50-over campaign will return earlier than the previous year with fixtures played alongside T20 games for the first time.
Matches were previously played in a short three-week block in August, but the alteration for the upcoming year means limited-overs cricket will feature heavily in June and July next season, something that Ervine believes the team will be able to adapt to.
There’s a couple of back to back one day games and then straight into T20 again which could be tricky but part of being a county player is being able to change over and adapt to the different formats quickly. I’m sure we will be ready whatever comes our way.
Sean Ervine
In October it was announced that Ervine has been awarded a benefit yearfor 2016, and the fan-facourite is also looking forward to the many off-field challenges that may be presented alongside next season’s cricketing encounters.
I’m pleased the fixtures have come out now too so we can sort out venues and dates next year – I’m really looking forward to getting things started for the benefit.
It’s a challenge that I’m fortunate to have and I’m looking forward to it – it’s going to be a busy year on the field as well as off but I’m hoping I can bring that calmness and being able to switch between performing on the field and this off the field is hopefully something that will work well.
Sean Ervine
You can view Hampshire’s 2016 fixtures in full byclicking here.
