Hampshire Hawks: Top 5 Moments

Ahead of Hampshire's return as the Hawks for this summer’s Vitality Blast, which gets underway tomorrow, Hampshire Cricket historian, Dave Allen, looks back at the top five moments in Hawks history.

1999

Hampshire were still playing in Southampton, Bournemouth and Basingstoke when the new National League was created in 1999. Sides competed over 45-overs each in two divisions with promotion and relegation and Hampshire re-named themselves ‘the Hawks’, with a new mascot, Harry the Hawk.

They started at Leicester in front of the television cameras but it was a rather gloomy launch; they were 17-2 chasing a target of 152 when the rain arrived and put an end to what our Handbook called the “razzmatazz” The Hawks home debut a week later saw Harry the Hawk accompanied by marching bands while on the field Kent posted 208-8. John Stephenson led the reply with 71* before the rain came agin but this time the Hawks were flying – their victory courtesy of the calculations of Messrs. Duckworth & Lewis.

2003

In June 2003, Hampshire Hawks launched the brand new T20 competition on Sky TV with a home fixture against local ‘rivals’ Sussex in front of 9,000 spectators. No one really knew how to play this (then) shortest of matches, the first in the world, but when Chris Adams won the toss he invited Hampshire to bat and in a competition designed to attract a younger following, two of Hampshire’s younger men, Derek Kenway on the day after his 25th birthday and James Hamblin, two months short of his, gave Hampshire a good start before Hamblin fell for 34 with the score already 66-1 in just under half-an-hour.

Wasim Akram, promoted to three hit the first six but went next at 90-2, Kenway (35) one run later and wickets fell fairly regularly with skipper John Crawley contributing 20 at a run-a-ball in a total of 153, the 10th wicket falling with two balls left. For Sussex, off-spinner Mark Davis confounded early predictions about the likely dominance of seam bowling, with 3-13 in three overs.

Wasim quickly dismissed Prior (playing as a batsman) and Goodwin, so when Chris Adams followed at 27-3, Sussex were struggling. Zuiderent (25) and Martin-Jenkins (24) gave some stability and Tim Ambrose with 54* and the only other six, from 39 balls. He and Mushtaq added 45 for the eighth wicket but Wasim and Giddins conceded just 42 runs from seven overs and Mullally 19 from his four.

Sussex needed 20 runs from the last two overs, and ten from the last one, but when the innings closed on 148-7, Hampshire had started with a five runs victory - the huge impact this new competition would have, was for the future.

2005

After 13 barren years, Hampshire beat Warwickshire in the C&G Trophy Final at Lord’s in an exciting match on a fine day. During the pre-season, Hampshire had signed two players from Southern Africa, Sean Ervine from Zimbabwe and Kevin Pietersen from South Africa, via Nottinghamshire and while Pietersen’s glory came in England’s winning Ashes series it was Ervine who starred for Hampshire, with centuries in the semi-final against Yorkshire at the Rose Bowl and again in the Final.

His 100* took Hampshire to a comfortable eight-wicket semi-final victory but the Final was tense. Nic Pothas (68) and Ervine 104 – dismissed by Trott who took 3-30 – saw Hampshire to 191 before the second wicket fell, after which their total of 290 was slightly disappointing.

Nick Knight then posted a century in reply and with support from Carter and Ian Bell they were 166-2 and 198-3 and very much in contention. Hampshire’s two ‘Aussies’ Andy Bichel and Shane Watson both took three wickets; Mascarenhas and Tremlett bowled economically and Shaun Udal, standing-in for skipper Shane Warne somewhat distracted by the Ashes series, became the first Hampshire-born Hampshire captain to lift a trophy – also the first silverware of Rod Bransgrove’s years leading the club.

2006

In March, our much-loved President, and captain of the 1961 Champions Colin Ingleby-Mackenzie died and on 29 June many Hampshire players and officials attended his Memorial Service at St Paul’s Cathedral. Out of respect, the position of President was not filled immediately.

Later that afternoon, Hampshire met Middlesex at the Rose Bowl where Michael Carberry (90), and Mitchell Stokes from Basingstoke (62) added 122 for the first wicket which remains a Hampshire record. Our Australian Dominic Thorneley added 50 taking Hampshire to their (then) T20 record total of 225-2 and he also took 3-30 as they beat Middlesex comfortably by 59 runs.

2009

Hampshire Hawks led by ‘Dimi’ Mascarenhas, won the Friends Provident Trophy against neighbours Sussex at Lord’s. In the final qualifying match, Hampshire beat Nottinghamshire by 10 wickets and when Worcestershire lost to Ireland, the Hawks qualified for a home quarter-final v Middlesex which they won thanks to 100 by Michael Lumb.

In the semi-final at Old Trafford, Lumb and Adams opened with 159 and the latter took two stunning catches to take Hampshire to Lord’s, where Sussex batted first. Man-of-the-Match Dominic Cork struck as Sussex slipped from 30-0 to 43-4 but Michael Yardy (92*) rallied Sussex and Hampshire’s target was 220.

All the batsmen contributed, as Jimmy Adams top-scored with 55 and an injured Nic Pothas saw Hampshire home, sharing an unbroken partnership of 67 with Chris Benham and the Hawks won by six wickets with almost 10 overs to spare.

It's now less than a month until the Vitality Blast lands at The Ageas Bowl with the Hawks playing seven big T20 matches across June and July.

Buoyed by Hampshire’s ‘Ticket Refund Promise’ groups of friends, families and colleagues have been booking a date for their summer socials at The Ageas Bowl.

All Hawks home matches will take place after Monday 21st June as part of a bumper schedule of T20 action, with crowds returning to The Ageas Bowl as Hampshire aim to reach a ninth Vitality Blast Finals Day.

Tickets for Hampshire Hawks’ T20 double-header on Friday 16th July – which will see James Vince’s side face Essex Eagles and local rivals Sussex Sharks in ‘el clasicoast’ on the same day – have been in particularly high demand, with the double-header the fastest-selling T20 fixture on record at The Ageas Bowl.

Fans can still secure their Vitality Blast tickets via the link below. A range of hospitality packages are also available for this summer’s Vitality Blast fixtures – supporters and event-goers can book their package here.

To secure your Vitality Blast tickets at the Advance price, please follow the link above. A range of hospitality packages are also available for this summer’s fixtures. To find out more please click here.