Weston Saint

Holland has just signed a permanent deal with Leicestershire (he is on loan to them at present) His desire was to play all formats which Leicestershire can give him Good servant for us. Shame to see him go but difficult to see him in the team if he had stayed.

Middleton, Albert, Prest and Turner signed multi year contracts in December 2023 Vince and Dawson until end of 2025 Gubbins signed a new contract December 2023 but length not known Browns contract until end of 2024 as is Barker, Abbott and Abbas Orr multi year following his close season signing in 2023 Not sure about Organ or Wheal Think Weatherly and Holland end in 2024. Fuller until 2026 Scott Currie signed a multi year extension before his loan to Leicestershire

As always, I like to reserve judgement until both teams have batted but I was one who thought we had made to correct decision to field first. The covers had been on for at least 30 hours before the start and if there was much in the wicket through sweating, that is where we could press for advantage. It did not happen! the second new ball proved the key. When we batted we were very cautious and thereafter our young batsmen took over. We do have a future there with Middleton, Orr, Prest and Albert. Windows, I agree we need a top class spinner. Bowling next season could be Currie, Wheal, Turner, with others coming on. With that group we probably need an experienced bowler. Maybe Abbott, who is out of contract at end of year. Abbas is other overseas out of contract. Barker is also out of contract and may also be the one to stay but only one of the three, in my opinion. We have a great bowling coach so off the field is not an issue. Opening batting has been a big issue for a few years now but Middleton and Orr look the future and will develop. Hampshire are one of the better fielding sides. Agree we make mistakes but so do the others. Essex dropped catches and mis fielded as much as we did. White ball was poor this season and everyone is scratching their heads on this. Our coach is also the coach to SA T20 team who have won the competition for the last two years so it is not lack of his experience. On red ball no one can fully compete with Surrey. They are miles ahead. However the coach identified two areas where we could be more competitive. One was to try to increase the batting over rate by one per over and the other was to be fitter. The whole team came back this season fitter and slimmer. Very noticeable with Dawson and Abbott in particular. Let us not forget we are 4th in the Championship. Not as high as we want to be but with a good future. Let's see how the last 4 games go.

What would you consider we change? We have a world class 1st team coach, one of the best captains in championship and we are likely to have new owners before next season.

Nothing is happening with james Vince at present. His contract with Hampshire is until the end of 2025 season. He is very unlikely to be selected by England. that bird has flown. I did hear a suggestion that he has been offered a new contract but he is doing nothing at present because of the situation with the attacks on his home, still unresolved. One of the most lucrative contracts is the Pakistan Super League but that is to be held in April/May in 2025 because Pakistan hosting the ICC Trophy in February. At his age it might just be too much to turn down! Let me make it clear, he loves Hampshire and hoped to see out his career here but those attacks on him home and the distress being caused to his wife and two young children as well as his mum and dad may just be too much to take!!

What you have to remember is that there is a ball from each end so in the first 20 overs the two balls are only 10 overs old. After that they begin to go soft and that is an advantage to the batsman. Both Hampshire and Worcestershire had great bowling starts but in the end both teams who batted 2nd won. Just the way it is on decent wickets with balanced sides. Better chasing We have lost the toss on 8 out of our 9 50 over games. Lets not forget that. Good effort though.

Two world class batsmen Need to get both of them. They are capable of winning this game for Leicestershire.

In order to understand where Southampton stand with their finances ahead of the August 30 transfer deadline, Southampton FC News spoke to finance expert Adam Williams. First, Williams explained how PSR works, as well as the impact of a year in the Championship, as he said: “Premier League clubs are allowed to lose a maximum of £105 million over a rolling three-year period, as long as the bulk of those losses are secured by an owner. “Southampton, however, have spent one of the last three seasons in the Championship, so their maximum allowable loss is lower at £83 million. “The club posted a pre-tax loss of £87 million in 2022/23, which is the only year of published accounts that is relevant in the current three-year monitoring period. “In isolation, that would put them already over the £83 million threshold, but you then have to add back PSR-deductible expenses such as youth and infrastructure investment.” A complex issue, Williams then went on to set out what this means for Southampton, explaining: “The Saints have a Category One academy, so you can assume £10-20 million of deductible expenses there. “Take off another £4-5 million for community initiatives and women’s football and you’re at around minus £60m. “For the 2023/24 season, Southampton made massive profit on player sales which they were able to book immediately. “I suspect they will have recorded a modest profit for the campaign, which probably gives them a fair bit of breathing space in terms of the £83 million loss limit. “In terms of their net spend based on headline figures we have seen, Southampton’s negative £45 million is actually one of the higher figures in the division. “Eight clubs have a positive net spend, and I think that illustrates that there has been a lack of liquidity in the market as a result of the absence of massive Saudi spending and the issues with the French TV deal. “And while those figures aren’t the ones that count to PSR – it is amortisation that does – Southampton’s net does give an indication of the room they have to spend. “Their PSR headroom will be extended if Armel Bella-Kotchap is sold, which would go immediately towards their PSR calculation. “So I think they have the freedom to spend without player sales if the owners are willing to put the funds in. Whether they do or not is another matter.” Exactly where Southampton stand with PSR as Russell Martin eyes additions before deadline day (southamptonfc.news)

into QF against Glamorgan away on Friday I think. it is back in our hands They had not updated points on other table when I looked. It is Leicestershire away as Glamorgan top and into Semi finals

Abbott and Abbas in last year of contract. This is a signing to take us forward.

Has a long chat with Rod Bransgrove during the interval yesterday although I am not at liberty to say what was said other than a deal has been progressing for a few months and not yet finalised. We have had a number of interested parties including some surprise ones but it is important that any investor does so to benefit the cricket and its members. There is also interest in other clubs from parties who have made approaches. We need the investment if we are to progress the club.

We needed the investment if we are to progress as a club. Lancashire and Surrey in particular are able to pay higher wages than we are and it is restricting who we can attract. We need it to bring in good experienced stars to compliment and develop our younger players and win the Championship. I spoke to the Chairman and past Chairman on this subject at the beginning of the season. It will not change the way the club is run but will help us achieve our ambitions. As a Gold Debenturer and a member of the Executive club I am keeping an open mind. Like you I have seen how it has negatively affected football As for catering the Atrium still caters for all matches and has won awards for its food. The concessions will not come for the 50 over as the crowd are not enough to justify their cost of having a spot. Likewise the under the stand catering does not take enough to cover costs of staffing. It is just a fact of life in County Cricket at present.

One of the positives of the 50 over cricket is that there is plenty of time to get back in the game. No need to panic as some seem to on here. With plenty of wet weather in the preceding 24 hours the covers left a sweaty pitch with both captains desperate to win the toss and put the other in to bat. It was always going to be a big factor. Good recovery took us to a par score. Mo Abbas injuring his rib did not help our cause but good bowling brought us back into the game and eventually we ran out big winners. Same Twelve for next two games with Dom Kelly coming in if Mo unfit. After that we may have use of one or two of our 100 players if they are not getting game time. Same wicket for Sunday. This time, win the toss and bat.

Or we are short of bowlers!!

Interesting team for 50 over friendly against Dorset yesterday Middleton (82) Gubbins (2) Captain Prest (38) Albert (132) kept wicket Eckland (10) Organ (51) Kelly (1) Jack (0) Abbott Wheal Abbas Bowling Abbas 6/31 Jack 2/22 Kelly and Organ 1 each. We won 336/8 Dorset 196 in 45.4 overs. Abbott and Abbas !! Strong hints that Abbas will stay with us for comp.

CCTV shows attack on Hampshire captain's family home | Daily Echo

Now this is out in the open I can reveal James Vince issues. I know the family well and have known about this from the start and the anguish this has caused, and is still causing to his wife and young children. James loves Hampshire CCC but his has put a strain on the whole family as well as the cost of alternative accommodation. James Vince has lived with his young family in the same house, in the same sleepy village, near Hampshire’s headquarters, just east of Southampton, for almost eight years. He has never known any trouble. That was until Vince, his wife and two young children woke in the middle of the night three months ago to the sound of glass smashing and alarms blaring as his house and cars were attacked totally out of the blue. The family lived elsewhere while they had the damage repaired, which took almost a month. But just a week after the repairs were completed and they had returned, another very similar attack took place. The former England batsman remains completely at a loss to explain what is going on. He has had some “very difficult conversations” with his wife Amy, as they make absolutely certain that the cause of this is nothing to do with them. They contacted the police immediately, and they have been investigating. Having looked at bank statements and phone records, they have found nothing unusual that could help explain the situation. Vince has received support from Hampshire, the England and Wales Cricket Board, and the Professional Cricketers’ Association, who have hired intelligence firms to look deep into the matter. Those searches have also brought nothing to the surface, and with no obvious motive, the only available conclusion is that this is a case of mistaken identity, and someone else is being targeted by the attackers. The two attacks have been totally isolated; the attackers have made no contact, or given any indication of their motive. “All the experts we’ve spoken to say it looks like a money issue, unpaid debts or something,” Vince tells Telegraph Sport. “We have nothing to hide and know we have never been involved in anything like this. We just desperately want this to stop.” Vince, who played 13 Tests and 42 white-ball internationals for England and was part of the squad that won the World Cup in 2019, is an intensely private man who has explored every realistic avenue to solve the issue before going public with it. But the family feel they have been left with no choice as they desperately seek more information. “If anyone knows anything, or sees anything in the footage of the attack that could lead to anything, please contact us or the Hampshire Police. It could be the final piece of information we need to find out what is going on and get our lives back to normal,” the 33-year-old says. ‘We rushed straight to the kids’ The two attacks have been almost identical. The first took place in the second week of April, at around 3am on a Monday morning. “My wife and I woke suddenly to a load of smashing, and alarms going off,” says Vince. “We had no idea what was going on and it was obviously very unnerving so we rushed straight to get the kids [who are seven and three] to make sure they were safe. They were clearly very shaken up. By the time we had done that, and contacted the police, they had gone, and we did not see them. A neighbour saw a car drive away. “It looks like they used some kind of metal bar the first time. There were two cars in the drive, and almost all the windows on both of them were smashed in, as well as the windows at the front of the house.” While the damage to the cars and house were repaired, security cameras and alarms installed. The Vinces lived elsewhere in that period, but with some trepidation they returned home, only for a repeat attack just a few days later. Bizarrely, both attacks happened during Hampshire home matches. “For the second one, I was actually still awake upstairs,” says Vince. “That meant I was able to get downstairs quite quickly and had more of a sense of what was going on. It obviously wasn’t such a surprise either, because it had happened before. I think they saw the activity in the house and left quickly. “This time, they used bricks – and the damage wasn’t quite as bad. It was similar though, with windows on the cars and house smashed. We were still up because we’d been at a dinner for my team-mate Chris Wood’s benefit year at the ground. We got home about 11.30pm, and it happened about midnight. We know a bit more about this one, because we have footage from the new security cameras.” The footage shows a man with a torch – possibly filming – passing bricks over the perimeter wall to another man, who is wearing a hoodie emblazoned with a logo of the brand Gym King on the back (which could provide a key clue to his identity), and has his face covered. He throws the bricks at windows on the house, then the cars, before fleeing. After the second attack, Vince’s family beefed up their security provision further by hiring local crime and security experts to watch the property, but the threat of a third attack still looms. “We don’t want to risk the same thing happening again,” he says. “It’s not fair on my wife or children to have to go through it again. “Obviously something like this is hugely disruptive in our lives, especially for our children, who have understandably been affected and unsettled by the situation. Having said that, I’m amazed and extremely proud of how they have dealt with it. We have received great support locally, and from within cricket. We have also enlisted private security personnel, who have found some key information, which is promising. Anything more that anyone knows would be fantastic, though, because this has to end.” By Will Macpherson , CRICKET NEWS CORRESPONDENT 16 July 2024 • 10:33am James Vince interview: Repeated attacks on my home forced me and my family out (telegraph.co.uk) If anyone knows anything please let me know.

Spoke to Vince father who said he has had a bug for a few days. Woods father told me he has a thigh strain and touch and go for Sunday. Fullers father told me he has a calf strain and that Howells felt his hamstring. Turner not the bowler he was last year. Perhaps trying too hard. Orr progressing well following his arm break and operation. Should be back for 50 over competition.

Just heard from coach that Wood Fuller and Howell injured and Vince unwell. Chasing 177. At least Vince is opening.

According to local Echo In order of appearance Dom Ballard, Jack Stephens, Sam Amo-Ameyaw, Adam Armstrong, Adam Lallana, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Nathan Wood, Tyler Dibling, James Bree, Ryan Manning, Ross Stewart, Charlie Taylor, Ronnie Edwards, Kyle Walker-Peters, Joe Aribo, Sam Edozie, Sekou Mara, Alex McCarthy, Mat Lis. Youngsters highlighted by me

It was such a flat pitch and was not likely to change so Vince decision was probably to bat them out of the game and then back the bowlers to force Warwickshire into errors. Was only ever going to be a Hampshire win or Warwickshire daw.

I will try to talk to Aidi the coach next week. He was in the squad but despite the bowling attack aging you have to go with your best team and the present 11 is the best choice with Orr still injured. He is under one of the best bowling coaches in English cricket. He will know when Turner is ready.

Tom Prest is included as he continues his recovery from a shoulder injury. Full Hampshire Squad James Vince (14) Captain Muhammad Abbas (38) Kyle Abbott (87) Toby Albert (15) Keith Barker (13) Ben Brown (10) Liam Dawson (8) James Fuller (26) Nick Gubbins (31) Fletcha Middleton (19) Felix Organ (3) Tom Prest (24) John Turner (6) Joe Weatherley (5)

I am told he should be back next week.