SPECIAL FEATURE
Dan Whiting laments the recent absence from the Hampshire fixture roster of some of the county’s most evocative and attractive grounds
Our review of Outgrounds looks at Hampshire’s lost treasures
At the turn of the century, Hampshire’s decision to sell off their atmospheric Northlands Road home in Southampton was the death knell for many of their outgrounds. The cost of playing cricket at the gleaming new venue of the Rose Bowl outweighed the cost of taking cricket to such wonderful places such as Dean Park in Bournemouth or the United Services Ground at Portsmouth.
The Rose Bowl is a decent arena. Good facilities, functional and popular with the players, however it is out of town and anyone who has tried to get away after a game, will find themselves having to spend a long time in traffic. Cricket grounds now have to offer the flexibility of being multi-purpose venues and with the Bowl hosting the occasional pop concert, Hampshire have been known to still take the game around the county, albeit not as often as they used to.
It is in this part of the world that the origins of cricket started. The Hambledon club are based close to the Sussex border and a poem by Robert Matthew in 1647 invites the pupils of Winchester College to come and “pitch their wickets”.
Hampshire started life at a venue called The Antelope Ground located in St Mary’s, before switching to Northlands Road. A hemmed-in venue, with a hotch-potch of ramshackle stands, it was loved by all. Hampshire’s success in the Sixties and Seventies during the advent of one-day cricket, drew big crowds to watch the likes of Barry Richards and Gordon Greenidge crash yet another cover drive into the boundary boards. Hampshire played at many outgrounds during this era. Even just before its demise, Northlands Road saw Cardigan Connor pick up nine wickets in an innings in 1996, while Kevan James bagged four wickets in four balls against the Indians in the same year.
The most famous of the outgrounds is probably Dean Park in Bournemouth. The days of factory workers taking their fortnight off in the summer to visit the British seaside, dining on the cuisine of fish and chips, ring true, as 14,000 once attended the game against Yorkshire, including many from the north.
Dean Park has a special place in the hearts of Hampshire fans as it was here that they lifted the County Championship not once, but twice. The first time was under the captaincy of Colin Ingleby-Mackenzie, described by that famous voice of cricket John Arlott “as a man who reflects a considerable capacity for the enjoyment of most pleasures”.When Hampshire won their first title in 1961, he declared that he “insisted that his team were in bed before breakfast”. He even kept the crowds waiting for ages for a glimpse of the team after their success in 1961, as he was handing out the ‘lemonades’. Richard Gilliat also held the trophy aloft here in 1973. No doubt, Arlott would have also celebrated with one of his famous, beloved clarets.
Dean Park was last used in 1992 and now hosts Dorset in the Minor Counties and Bournemouth University, although Hampshire did play there as the away side in a NatWest Trophy game against Dorset in 1998. The fact that it is so underused is a shame because this is a fantastic venue. Based in one of the more salubrious parts of Bournemouth, large properties adjoin the ground with a red brick pavilion being the focal point.
Sadly a block of flats was built to the left of this, detracting from its beauty, but the tree-lined arena still retains its charm. It was where Hampshire would host touring sides and the hum of generators powering everything from beer bars to ice-cream vans was a constant backdrop.
Dean Park has a special place in the hearts of Hampshire fans as it was here that they lifted the County Championship, not once, but twice
May’s Bounty in Basingstoke is a ground that has been used in recent years if the Rose Bowl is not available. Based in the north of the county close to the border with Surrey, it is just over 30 miles from the edge of London. Originally known as The Folly, it was a gift or ‘bounty’ from Lt Col John May and is another beautiful tree-lined venue, nestling within the heart of the town. An oasis of green in the middle of the one-way system, that confuses visiting motorists, the ground hasn’t seen any first-class action since 2010. It remains the home to Basingstoke and North Hants CC and is famous for a remarkable Barry Richards 174 in the mid-Seventies while Glamorgan’s Malcolm Nash picked up 9-56 during the same era. Robin Smith would also regularly score runs there, fierce cuts peppering the deck chairs that thronged the viewing areas. Another regular Hampshire venue was the United Services Ground in Portsmouth. Owned by the Crown Estate, it had a quick wicket popular with that most regal, adopted son of Hampshire, Malcolm Marshall. Situated by Gunwharf Quays in Old Portsmouth, the ground had an imposing gated archway entrance and was overlooked by the Officer’s Building.
With a white concrete pavilion housing the players,‘ Pompey’ was a popular venue but not without its controversies. A game in the Seventies was moved to a neighbouring pitch after being vandalised during the night and earlier in the decade, there were political protests during the visit of the Pakistanis. Despite the problems, the players loved playing on a pitch that had a bit more pace and carry for the bowlers, whilst the batsmen would enjoy the ball coming on to the bat more than Northlands Road or Dean Park.
Over the Solent, Hampshire have also taken the game to the Isle of Wight. The J. Samuel White’s ground was named after a local shipbuilding company in Cowes and Ingleby-Mackenzie scored a hundred on this ground at the end of the Fifties. In the days of Gentlemen and Players, it would see the certain members of the side traipsing back and forth on the ferry back to Southampton whilst others would stay on the island.
At post-match drinks during one Championship match, Ingleby-Mackenzie famously fell off of a friend’s yacht during some high jinks with the Essex player Trevor Bailey. The ground is still used by Cowes CC. Hampshire had also played matches at Newport in the centre of the island, although the outbreak of the World War II ended that association.
Hampshire have used a number of grounds around this most southerly county. Two venues in Winchester hosted a match a piece; Winchester College and the Green Jackets ground. The military theme continues with The Officer’s Services Club in Aldershot also having their turn while the Municipal Ground in Alton hosted Hampshire against the South Africans in 1904.
However, having ‘centralised’ virtually all of their matches to the Rose Bowl, it has shown us that county cricket in England is changing.
Even the new ground undertakes a sponsored name – Ageas Bowl – as cricket has entered a new era. The days of taking the game to the public at outgrounds have been shunned and the people of the county are poorer for the experience. Not everyone can drive to the venue and to see crowds of a couple of thousand in a large arena for a county game, can be a strange experience.
The days of Shackleton, ‘Butch’ White and Ingleby-Mackenzie, along with the adopted Greenidge, Marshall and Richards, with John Arlott describing the action in his famous Hampshire burr are memories of a bygone age, when cricket was a different game.
I can’t imagine Ingleby-Mackenzie celebrating with his ‘lemonade’ in a plastic cup in this modern arena.