Hampshire coach eyes final flourish after Yorkshire draw

Craig White has targeted a final flourish to the summer after Hampshire had to settle for a draw at Yorkshire on Friday.
Fidel Edwards has 48 wickets in the County Championship this season. Picture: Neil MarshallFidel Edwards has 48 wickets in the County Championship this season. Picture: Neil Marshall
Fidel Edwards has 48 wickets in the County Championship this season. Picture: Neil Marshall

The final day of the County Championship division one contest at Headingley was washed out.

Hampshire, who claimed the Royal London One-Day Cup at Lord's earlier this summer, have secured their future in the top tier.

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Now White is eyeing a successful end to the summer in the season finale against Lancashire at the Ageas Bowl, beginning on Monday.

The first-team coach said: '˜Overall, it's been a positive season.

'˜We would like to finish on a high next week to give us confidence heading into the winter.

'˜Had we been relegated, we would have looked back on this season thinking yeah we've won a trophy but it's been tarnished.

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'˜Everyone knows how tough it is to stay in the first division.

'˜If you stay up and win a trophy along the way, that's not a bad year as far as I'm concerned.

'˜To move forward next year, every aspect of our game we need to work on.

'˜Consistency is our biggest problem.

'˜We'll have a good game and then a poor one.

'˜The good teams, they don't get beaten.

'˜We need to be harder beat because we're winning one and then losing one.'

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After three days of battle, Yorkshire led Hampshire by 314 runs with five second-innings wickets remaining.

White refused to rule out a late charge for victory from his troops but rain put paid to those hopes when no play was possible on day four.

The former Yorkshire and England all-rounder added: '˜Last year we chased 340 here, so we were hopeful of a chase again.

'˜We know the pitch gets better and Yorkshire didn't play a spinner.

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'˜It was one of the reasons we bowled first, so the weather was a disappointment.'

Hampshire sit fourth in the division one standings, while next week's opponents Lancashire are second from bottom.

With one game remaining of this County Championship campaign, Kyle Abbott and Fidel Edwards have 49 and 48 wickets, respectively.

Meanwhile, Hampshire skipper James Vince lead's the club's run charts with 921.

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