Take it as red, Hampshire will improve, says Alsop
Jeremy Blackmore meets a young player on the South Coast anticipating an upturn in his county’s Championship form
Hampshire believe they can do something special in red-ball cricket this season, according to batsman Tom Alsop whose breakthrough was one of the few bright spots on the South Coast last year.
Alsop’s friend and mentor Michael Carberry returned to training last week after cancer treatment and with the club securing the services of Kyle Abbott, Rilee Rossouw and George Bailey, Hampshire look set to start the new season in a far stronger position than they ended last September.
After finishing eighth in the first division, Hampshire only survived relegation thanks to an 11th hour reprieve when the ECB imposed sanctions upon Durham.
“Obviously we were very fortunate to stay up,” said Alsop shortly before joining up with England Lions in preparation for the tour to Sri Lanka.
“It’s a real exciting year for us with Abbott and Rossouw coming over and Bailey. Being around those guys for everyone is going to have a hugely positive effect on the squad. It’s only going to add positivity to the group and it can only make everyone better.
“We’ve got a strong history in the limited-over formats and it would be great to do something with the red ball. With the additions, there’s a bit of a buzz around the squad and that sense of feeling that this season could kind of be something special hopefully.
“Last season was not one of the best for a lot of reasons, including illnesses and results; whereas this season has got that kind of belief and buzz around the guys that we can do something special.”
Alsop, 21, dedicated his maiden firstclass century to Carberry last season and says the squad was delighted to welcome the former England opener back to training.
“I’m really close with Carbs and we all wish him all the best for this season,” he said. “He really deserves it. He puts in more work than most.
“It’s just brilliant to see him back, smiling and doing what he does best. You only have to speak to him for a bit about cricket and you can just tell that he lives and breathes it. All he’s concerned about is scoring runs, which is brilliant, and he always offers good conversation.”
After not getting any first-team cricket the year before, Alsop started to come of age in 2016, scoring 1,200 runs in all formats and averaging 54 in 50-over cricket. His reward was a Lions call-up to tour the UAE.
He acknowledges the importance of getting an extended run in the side: “It was massively important. I think in some ways getting no cricket the year before was a huge help in terms of motivation and targeting last year that if I did get a run, then I was going to try and make sure I made full use of it and, thankfully, I took my opportunities.
“But I think what really clicked was just to enjoy it. I always had this belief I could play at that level. Of course until you get your first score, you’re in that middle ground, but when you get that first hundred, you have that confirmation within yourself that you can play at this level.
“I’ve been very fortunate with the players around me. Carbs is a really good friend and I go to him a lot about my game, cricket and life in general. To have his information feeding in – as well as Dale Benkenstein at the time – was brilliant.
Alsop nailed down the No.3 spot in Hampshire’s Championship side towards the end of the season, a position he felt increasingly comfortable in: “I just find that it suits me as a player in red-ball cricket because I feel I have both sides to my game. If I’m in early on, then I can approach it as opening the batting, but also having that middle-order experience, if I’m in a bit later I can help carry on attacking and hopefully taking the game away from the opposition. With white-ball, I still quite like to open the batting.”
After dedicating his maiden List A century to his parents last June, Alsop was determined to reach a similar milestone in red-ball cricket before the season ended. He came close at Trent Bridge in August, falling on 93, before finally passing three figures at the Oval in early September. It was an innings which showed huge character as his side battled relegation.
He said: “It was just such a big relief because so much went into that innings, so many conversations spent with other players talking about methods or approaches to certain innings like that.
“I put so much emphasis on red-ball cricket. That was what I really wanted to achieve that season to get a first-class 100 because that’s a true sign for me as a batter. It’s looked upon as the hardest format so to do that was a huge relief.”
The Lions tour to the UAE before Christmas offered a first taste of Subcontinental conditions. “It was a fantastic experience and having the likes of Graham Thorpe and Andy Flower around to help, our games improved no end.
“We had some net bowlers over from India and they bowled to us for hours and hours each day. The first few sessions were an eye-opener and then your game adapted and it wasn’t so much trying to survive as it was trying to actually put your foot down and trying to look at ways of scoring and dominating in those foreign conditions.
“I am very excited about being selected for the Lions tour to Sri Lanka. It’s a great opportunity to further my experience, test my abilities and hopefully put in a good few scores, take a lot of confidence from it and go into the season with it, but also just to see what it does for my game, to test my skills and abilities.
“Next season it would be great to try to secure my spot again for Hampshire. I would love to be in that position of a consistent figure in the team they can rely on and it would be great to have some success at Hampshire.”
Talking about Carberry’s return, Hampshire cricket director Giles White added: “Michael is doing really well and it’s great to see him back in the nets and striking the ball.
“It’s still fairly early on in terms of working his way back to full fitness and there’s currently no timetable for a return to playing, but we’ll see how he progresses over the coming weeks and be sure to continue to support him in whatever way we can.”
It’s a really exciting year for us with Abbott and Rossouw coming over, plus Bailey. Being around those guys will have a hugely positive effect