Hampshire County Cricket Club

Hampshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Hampshire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1863 as a successor to the Hampshire county cricket teams and has played at the Antelope Ground from then until 1885, before moving to the County Ground where it played from then until 2000, before moving to the purpose built Rose Bowl in West End which is in the Borough of Eastleigh. In 1864 the club played its first-class debut, losing to Sussex at the Antelope Ground. Hampshire was never a champion county before the County Championship was officially founded in 1889, more often than not the results for the county were poor. As a result of this it lost its first-class status in 1885, but regained it 1895, the season in which it first featured in the County Championship. The club won its first title in 1961 and its second in 1973. These remain its only Championship titles.

Hampshire played their first one-day match in 1963, but didn't win their first one-day silverware until 1975 when the club won Sunday League. The club won the Sunday League twice more in 1978 and 1986. It has twice won the Benson & Hedges Cup in 1988 and 1991, the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy once in 2005 and the Friends Provident Trophy once in 2009. Having first played Twenty20 cricket in 2003, Hampshire won the Friends Provident t20 in 2010. The County Championship was restructured in 2000, and at the end of the 2002 Hampshire was relegated for the first time. The club remained in the second division for three seasons and since 2004 had competed in the top tier. However, the club was relegated once more in 2011.

Phil Mead is the club's leading run-scorer with 48,892 runs in 700 matches for Hampshire between 1905 and 1936. Fast bowler Derek Shackleton took 2,669 wickets in 583 first-class matches between 1948 and 1969 which remains a club record. Alec Kennedy, whose career lasted from 1907 to 1936, was the first player to score 10,000 runs and take 1,000 wickets for Hampshire. Colin Ingleby-Mackenzie was both Hampshire last amateur captain and first professional captain.

Read more about Hampshire County Cricket Club:  Honours, Records

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    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

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    Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)

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    Richard Wilbur (b. 1921)

    At first, it must be remembered, that [women] can never accomplish anything until they put womanhood ahead of wifehood, and make motherhood the highest office on the social scale.
    “Jennie June” Croly 1829–1901, U.S. founder of the woman’s club movement, journalist, author, editor. Demorest’s Illustrated Monthly and Mirror of Fashions, pp. 24-5 (January 1870)