Weston Saint

All I know is he never seemed to fit in. Some one who spoke to Coles about him leaving told me this evening Coles said "I do not know, ask Rod" I know Rod Bransgrove was not impressed with the extra weight Coles was carrying when he signed for us on a 2 year contract. I think there were issues. Dale did say one of his regrets was having to let Coles go back to Kent but he also said Rod Bransgrove was always very supportive and helpful but never interfered with the cricket side. I often speak to Rod and can confirm he is not an interferer with the dressing room or tactics although he will question matters and ask for reports. In my opinion and those of many who were with me tonight was that Coles was a "bad egg" Forget the 6 wickets tonight, our batsmen made it far to easy for him although one was a stunning return catch which just stuck in the hand! He is no good, does not listen and does not fit in. I remember when he first came I spoke to someone in the Kent dressing room who said his main problem is that he was not prepared to listen to advice. Nothing appears to have changed!

https://audioboom.com/boos/4852441-listen-hantscricket-coach-dale-benkenstein-on-why-he-s-returning-to-south-africa?t=0

I have known for some time that Dale Benkenstein was not happy at Hampshire due to missing his family in south Africa (I am sure our present plight did not help) Last week I congratulated him on bringing Wheal in to replace Best in the Championship game. I said that although Best bowled fast he was not taking wickets. His response (with Tommo also with me) "He is not even bowling fast now! He was bowling fast crap and now he is bowling slow crap" I did not put it up here as it was a private conversation and Dale is always so brutally honest when I chat to him. However events have changed with Dale resigninging this morning. Last week I spoke to Tony Middleton over the absence of Ryan Stephenson from all forms of Cricket. He confirmed Ryan's early season back problem has returned and he is unlikely to play any cricket again this season Last night I spoke to Don Topley, Ryan Topley's father. Ryan has not yet returned to a bowling programme as England do not want him rushed back. He does not think we will see Ryan bowling this season! On the question of Vince, I think he has proved he is not yet ready for Test cricket. IOD & T20 yes but Tests no. With Dale gone I do not expect anyone coming in with any haste. Wonder if Warne is available and hungry! No insight, just a personal wish. Fresh start next season with a good bunch of youngsters, Dawson and Vince as mid 20 experience and we will need about three experienced old heads who can play to a high standard. Carberry unlikely (all gone quiet on that front and I did not like to ask) Adams and Smith past their best and should not feature. Evine still has a couple of years in him. After that ...............

In interview Smith says at this point last year we had won 1 lost 5. This season we have won 1 lost 3 so we are in a better place and he is confident we can survive as we did last year! Not a chance Smithy, we have Edwards who took 37 wickets from now on. We have no one even near that ability. Planning should now be underway for how we are going to challenge teams in Div 2 next season.

Of course our bowling is not good enough Windows. Edwards injured, Best a very poor replacement. Topley injured although he should only have played a bit part this season in red ball cricket. Berg and McLaren out for games this season with injuries and they are really first change bowlers not new ball guys. Tomlinson not the bowler he was as age catches up with him. Stephenson was a hopeful this season as was Woods. Both out for the rest of the season with back and knee injuries respectively. Have I missed anyone! When Surrey bowled their 3 pace bowlers looked sharper and more effective. But in fairness this is an awful wicket. Why did the club let one be prepared like that! Yesterday I asked Dale if we had won the toss what would we have done? He said the wicket might give some early assistance but they would have batted...reluctantly! I spoke to David Fulton of SkyTV. He said the wicket was a bit flatter than expected and they had hoped it would take spin! Why did we only pick one spinner! Well done to Mason Crane. 51 overs in the innings is a phenomenal effort on a wicket that was too slow for his leg spin. McLaren was dropped in the slips or it would have been worse! Hopefully tomorrow will be a run fest but we could still be short of the follow on if we bat all day!

Record galore as Wheater has now passed 5,000 first class runs. And he then reaches 200 with his next ball......my last post for the day:)

Ervine's 52no reaches a milestone of 10,000 first class rune. Well done Sluggy

Tell a player he is no longer first choice wicket keeper and has to fight to get a batting place and what does he do..... Scores 147 in seconds and comes into the firsts and scores 40 followed by a career best of 170no as I key this. Well done Adam Wheater

Confirmed this morning that Vince and Dawson will play in the T20 game against SL tomorrow. I will be there to see them.

Hampshire have made 28 days approaches for Varun Chopra Age 29 (Warks), Mark Stoneman 29 (Durham) & Olly Stone 22 (Northants). Chopra and Stoneham are seasoned openers and I suspect only one out of the two would be signed if terms were agreed. Many other counties are also looking. Stone is out injured for the rest of the season http://www.espncricinfo.com/county-cricket-2016/content/story/1023733.html

It is not all doom and gloom. The undernoted have played some form of 1st team cricket this or last year and the position they will play long term. 1. Jo Weatherley (19) Batsman 2. Tom Alsop (21) Batsman 3. James Vince (25) Batsman 4. Adam Wheater (26) Batsman 5. Liam Dawson (26) All Rounder 6. 7. Lewis McManus (22) Wk. Keeper 8. 9. Ryan Stevenson (24) RH Bowler 10. Mason Crane (19) Leg Spin Bowler 11. Reece Topley 22 LA Bowler 12. Brad Wheal (19) RA Bowler 13 Brad Taylor (19) Off Spin Bowler That does not include Chris Wood in view of his long term injuries. I have also included Wheater as a batsman as that is likely to be his only future with Hampshire.

So I see but mine was neater

I am not going to read through this thread to see if this has been posted but..... Guardian opinion. If Boris Johnson looked downbeat yesterday, that is because he realises that he has lost. Perhaps many Brexiters do not realise it yet, but they have actually lost, and it is all down to one man: David Cameron. With one fell swoop yesterday at 9:15 am, Cameron effectively annulled the referendum result, and simultaneously destroyed the political careers of Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and leading Brexiters who cost him so much anguish, not to mention his premiership. How? Throughout the campaign, Cameron had repeatedly said that a vote for leave would lead to triggering Article 50 straight away. Whether implicitly or explicitly, the image was clear: he would be giving that notice under Article 50 the morning after a vote to leave. Whether that was scaremongering or not is a bit moot now but, in the midst of the sentimental nautical references of his speech yesterday, he quietly abandoned that position and handed the responsibility over to his successor. And as the day wore on, the enormity of that step started to sink in: the markets, Sterling, Scotland, the Irish border, the Gibraltar border, the frontier at Calais, the need to continue compliance with all EU regulations for a free market, re-issuing passports, Brits abroad, EU citizens in Britain, the mountain of legislation to be torn up and rewritten ... the list grew and grew. The referendum result is not binding. It is advisory. Parliament is not bound to commit itself in that same direction. The Conservative party election that Cameron triggered will now have one question looming over it: will you, if elected as party leader, trigger the notice under Article 50? Who will want to have the responsibility of all those ramifications and consequences on his/her head and shoulders? Boris Johnson knew this yesterday, when he emerged subdued from his home and was even more subdued at the press conference. He has been out-manoeuvred and check-mated. If he runs for leadership of the party, and then fails to follow through on triggering Article 50, then he is finished. If he does not run and effectively abandons the field, then he is finished. If he runs, wins and pulls the UK out of the EU, then it will all be over - Scotland will break away, there will be upheaval in Ireland, a recession ... broken trade agreements. Then he is also finished. Boris Johnson knows all of this. When he acts like the dumb blond it is just that: an act. The Brexit leaders now have a result that they cannot use. For them, leadership of the Tory party has become a poison chalice. When Boris Johnson said there was no need to trigger Article 50 straight away, what he really meant to say was "never". When Michael Gove went on and on about "informal negotiations" ... why? why not the formal ones straight away? ... he also meant not triggering the formal departure. They both know what a formal demarche would mean: an irreversible step that neither of them is prepared to take. All that remains is for someone to have the guts to stand up and say that Brexit is unachievable in reality without an enormous amount of pain and destruction, that cannot be borne. And David Cameron has put the onus of making that statement on the heads of the people who led the Brexit campaign.

Spoke to someone I know in the media today, Solent - He thinks Puel will be announced early next week. Reason for delay he thinks is to allow supporters to get used to name before announcement.

Spoke to someone I know in the media today, Solent - He thinks Puel will be announced early next week. Reason for delay he thinks is to allow supporters to get used to name before announcement.

Good effort but 11 runs short. Gave 3 of our youngsters a good run out as well. They did not disappoint.

Slow over rate takes all that into account. At the end of the game the scorers, who record the over rate and time incidents, negotiate with the Umpires at the end of the game to come up with a fair and balanced judgment. We were actually -3 but negotiated down to -2. Spinners can help. Middlesex only used spin for 13 overall in 2 innings. We used 36 in one innings! It is about time management so blame is with the bowlers and the captain. There is no other excuse.

I was wrong....we were docked two points for slow over rate so ended the game -1 points. Indisciplined bowling must be looked at.

We ended up with 0 points as we lost 1 point for poor over rate over the game!

Middlesex won the toss and are batting. Weatherley in for Alsop who has flu. Good move as these two are our prospective openers when Carberry and Adams retire in the near future. Must give them as much experience as possible. 6/1 as Tomlinson gets Gubbins

We are already doing all of this. This is our Black Box. I am not allowed to go into detail but I know someone who has sat in that black box and was very very impressed and he is a former Director of the club. There are a number of affordable and suitable players for each position that can walk into the side, an even larger number for each position that are up and coming and future suitable players, stats for all available in the public domain and much more in private following interviews with friends, family, coaches and other parties.

Wrong I am afraid. My brother bought a season ticket for the first time on the first day renewals were started. I just emailed the club to confirm the seat he wanted was not held by a season ticket holder (we knew it was not) and they told us to come down to sign up which we did. Non seaon holder tickets seats were on sale from day 1.

A little birdie tells me Tino Best may play for Hampshire 2nds tomorrow at Ageas Bowl. Also that they may play it on the main ground not the nursery. Tom Barber who was released by Hampshire may be in the Somerset side!

Yes he is ready but will need time to get up to speed and gain experience.

https://audioboom.com/boos/4453639-listen-hantscricket-s-sean-ervine-123-magnificent-fightback-v-yorks?t=0