‘There is a lot to be proud of’ – Hampshire’s director of cricket Giles White reflects on county’s T20 Blast campaign

But as the club’s director of cricket Giles White explained, there is plenty of pride in how the team performed throughout a campaign which saw more than 50,000 supporters attend a game at The Ageas Bowl...

“The team played really well again this year and we are proud of reaching another Finals Day.

"We felt we played a good game in the semi-final - and scored the most runs on the day - but in the end we were thwarted by the weather.

“It is something which can happen, particularly on Finals Day.

“We’d have liked to have chased in those circumstances, but it wasn’t to be. Full credit to Essex; they played well to and deserved to win.

“Everyone was disappointed, and slightly frustrated, but you get over it fairly quickly.

"We’re up at Trent Bridge this week and half the team are up here; the other guys, who aren’t involved in red ball, are preparing for The Hundred – the sporting life moves on.

“They’ll look back on this tournament with fond memories and I think there is a lot to be proud of.

“That group of players will be around next year and hopefully do the same - get out of the group and qualify for another Finals Day.

“At Hampshire it’s always important to bring young players through into the first team set-up, and this summer Fletcha Middleton has done very well at the top of the order in our red ball team, and in T20 Toby Albert came in when we had injuries and played some eye-catching innings.

"The obvious one, though, is John Turner. He has probably been the stand-out newcomer to the T20 competition country-wide.

“We’ve got high hopes for John. He’s struck up a very good relationships with Nathan Ellis, who has been an outstanding mentor to him. He’s a good lad, very popular, is intelligent and has a great work ethic, and has that natural ability to bowl fast.

“It is always of benefit to a young player coming into a good team when they can see how the senior players train and prepare. I think we’ve got a good team of people around the coaching staff and senior players.

“James Vince is a tremendous leader of the group. He is a great competitor and has huge belief in himself and those around him. Over the last 13 years we’ve reached Finals Day ten times. James has been a part of every one of those ten, which tells its own story.

“After last year we wondered how we could get better, but the addition of Benny Howell rounds the team off in terms of batting depth; we’ve seen the cameos he plays at the end of innings

which have won games for us or set us up to win games. That, coupled with his bowling, has taken the team to another level.

“We’ve received some great support this year, with good crowds – the highest ever number of fans attending our T20 games at The Ageas Bowl - and long may that continue.

“We’ve seen more than 2,000 local school children attend a T20 game, as well as 1,500 players from local All Stars youth cricket sessions.

“There are some good initiatives round the club engaging different parts of the community and it’s really important the kids come in, see the game and engage with it.

“Hopefully the players will have inspired some of them to take up the game.”

Hampshire will be in one-day cup action at The Ageas Bowl throughout August – starting with a game against Middlesex on August 1. For tickets visit: www.ageasbowl.com