Team spirit can end the jinx of July
IT’S typical of Hampshire’s month of woe that Giles White, the county’s director of cricket, is talking to The Cricket Paper from his sick bed, having been sent home from the Ageas Bowl by the county’s physio after coming down with gastroenteritis.
In the first three months of the season, Hampshire were challenging, but July has taken things to a whole new level. Bottom of Division One, Hampshire last week lost head coach Dale Benkenstein just a short while after Michael Carberry was diagnosed with cancer.
They have also seen newly signed England fast bowler Reece Topley ruled out first with a fractured hand and then with a stress fracture of his back.
Carberry’s health concerns, of course, put cricket well and truly in perspective but as White reflects on a season of abject misery, he’s still clinging to the hope – when not clinging to the sick bag – that Hampshire can dig themselves out of an increasingly large hole.
“It’s one thing after another,” says White.“It has been tough but we’re hanging in there. It’s a big ask (to avoid relegation) but we were in a worse position last year. We played some very good cricket towards the end of the season and that’s our challenge again now. We need to produce the sort of cricket we did last year. If we can do that we’ve got a good chance of keeping our Division One status.”
The departure of Benkenstein has hardly helped Hampshire’s cause, with the South African citing family reasons for his decision to leave the county a year earlier than planned.
“I wasn’t surprised, I knew he had been battling for a little bit having been away from family,” White says.“It wasn’t a complete surprise but it has left us in a position where we have to fill that void. Craig White is going to do that and I’m going to become closer to the day-to-day running of the side.
“Craig has been around for a long time with us and he knows the players well. It’s not a huge shift. We need to pull together and see what we can get out of this season.”
Hampshire’s players have been hit hard by Carberry’s plight.The left-hander is a hugely popular figure both in the dressing room and in the stands at Hampshire and has remained around the side while seeing a series of specialists about a diagnosis that shocked and united the cricket world in equal measure.
In his absence, the likes of Tom Alsop have been forced to take on more responsibility at the sort of age where White would, ideally, rather ease them into the side. He does, though, suggest that Carberry’s diagnosis has, if anything, brought everyone at the Ageas closer together.
“The players are coping well, it was a shock to all of us,” says White. “It’s now up to us to support Michael through what is going to be a tough time. All the players were obviously very sad when they heard. We’ll stand by his side as he goes through this.
“It’s a close knit group. There’s a really strong Hampshire spirit among this group and we’ll need that. It has been a challenging year, a tough year on a number of different fronts. It’s important we do pull together.
“They’re all good friends and the younger group have come through the system and been educated at the club. They’re coming through with a really tight and close bond.”
Those will be tested in the coming weeks as Hampshire look to launch a similar act of escapology to the one they pulled off in 2015. Again, the likes of leg-spinner Mason Crane and Alsop, alongside the returning Gareth Berg will need to redouble their efforts to ensure this season has some happy memories alongside the injuries and illnesses which have dogged them.
“The injury list is still pretty long,” White says. “The good news is Berg coming back because he’s a key player for us.
“We have to make the most of what we’ve got. There are a number of good young players coming through. This is a great time to have a look at them.”
After the luck they’ve had this season, Hampshire must surely be due a change of fortune soon. Whether it happens in time to preserve their Division One, White is hoping against hope.