Then in late May 2019 came the new ground’s great event with Hampshire’s four-day Championship match against Nottinghamshire, moved from the Ageas Bowl to accommodate the World Cup which also deprived Hampshire of James Vince and Liam Dawson. Despite this, Hampshire gave a fine performance against Stuart Broad and his team-mates winning by 244 runs on the fourth day with time to spare. In 1972 and 1975, Sussex played two John Player Sunday League matches at Arundel Castle, then from 1994-2013 they played a further 20 List A matches, including three against Hampshire in 1996, 1998 and 2009. Hampshire won the first two and Sussex the third by just four runs.

His worship was answered in the form of James Fuller, who joined him in an unbroken 32-run stand which nudged Hampshire towards setting Essex a target of note. However, the visitors remain heavy favourites. Greenidge played for Berkshire Bantams and Hampshire Colts, then in August 1967 made his debut for the county’s 2nd XI. He joined the county staff and qualified by residence, making his Championship debut in early August against Sussex at Bournemouth, batting at number six, and ten days later he played in his first Sunday League match and opened with Barry Richards for the first time. Hampshire’s team was much changed too with only Peter Sainsbury surviving from the 1962 side after the great batsman Roy Marshall retired at the end of the 1972 season. Other recent departures included pace bowlers Bob Cottam and John Holder while Barry Reed and Larry Worrell would play no more for the first team. Captain Richard Gilliat had the challenge of moulding a new side and no one - including the ‘Bookies' offering 66-1 against them winning the Championship - can have anticipated what would occur in 1973 as Hampshire won their second, and to date, last title. Long time Hampshire captain and now accomplished broadcaster Mark Nicholas published his autobiography in 2016. A Beautiful Game is one of the best of the genre. Of his charges three have been the subject of books, Robin Smith, Sean Udal and Hampshire’s second Marshall, Malcolm.In terms of legacy and achievement the other member of the ‘class of ’68’ is one of the very best batsman to have played the game. Barry Richards thrilled county crowds for a decade. There are two books that concern the life of the great man, The Barry Richards Story, that appeared in 1978, and a biography by Murtagh in 2015, Sundial in the Shade. He is also the subject of a recent monograph from Michael Sexton, The Summer of Barry, that looks at his record breaking season with South Australia in 1970/71.

In respect of the County Championship, we have all been here before, just twelve months ago, and while in the future that table will show Hampshire in fourth place for the first time, we know that Hampshire were within one ball of being Champions for the third time. The committee consisted of three former players, Mike Barnard, Tim Tremlett & Will Kendall, plus scorer & statistician Vic Isaacs, plus Neil Jenkinson my predecessor and fine Hampshire historian, and me. Having compiled an initial pre-war list, we would often discover a photograph or other evidence showing another recipient but it’s likely that we now have a definitive list that is as accurate as possible.is the 60 th season of single innings, limited-overs matches between first-class counties. Over those years the matches, always scheduled for one day but sometimes extended or shortened by weather, have been contested over various formats with overs consisting of 65, 60, 55, 50, 45 or 40 per side. They were the first regular county competitions to carry the names of sponsors of which there have been many. Despite all these variations the matches are together known as List A to distinguish them from first-class or Twenty 20 games. The most surprising statistic is that of the 44 other matches 22 were won batting first and 22 batting second. The toss did not help with only 16 toss winners going on to win the game, although the captains seemed to improve – they won just four of the first 20 matches having won the toss but won seven of the final eight. The other figures (rounded up or down): Essex's 169 had put them on top in the match before their new ball bowling rammed home their dominance. Rain reduced Hove in 2005 to 12 overs each and Sussex won by 10 runs despite a fine all-round display by Sean Ervine with 2-28 and 46. In 2006 we went to Arundel where Greg Lamb hit 55* but Mushtaq’s 4-30 restricted us to 152-6 and Sussex won with five balls to spare. They hammered us at Hove in 2007, Luke Wright’s 98 taking them to their record score against Hampshire of 205-5 and we fell 73 short. Remarkably, they scored just one fewer the following year but this time everyone reached double figures with Carberry’s 58 leading Hampshire to a last-ball win and our record score.

Well played Australia – again not a thriller but a very fine all-round performance. The final figures: Following on after being bundled out for 149 before lunch, the hosts limped to 63 all out in their second innings at Wantage Road.Robin Smith ‘Judge’ starred for Hampshire and England in first-class and limited-overs competition at the end of the 20th century. He scored 18,984 first-class runs at 42.09 for Hampshire, many with his trademark square cut, and another 12,034 at 42.97 in one-day competition. Smith has written two books that are essentially autobiographical in nature. The first, Quest For Number One, published in 1993, is not exactly an autobiography, but the more recent, The Judge, appeared in 2019 certainly is. It is a thought provoking and engrossing read on the subject of a man at whom life has certainly aimed a few short ones over the years. Among the beneficiaries post-war were Vic Cannings (cap 1950, benefit 1959), Jimmy Gray (cap 1951, benefit 1960), Roy Marshall (cap 1955, benefit 1961), Trevor Jesty (cap 1971, benefit 1982), and Malcolm Marshall (cap 1981, benefit 1987). When Hampshire begin their Bob Willis Trophy match against Surrey at Arundel, the Duke of Norfolk’s ground will be the 15th on which Hampshire have played a home first-class match and the 10th home ground in a first-class county competition, although strictly speaking the new competition is distinct from the traditional County Championship.