Int. Cricket Captain 2005 - Hampshire CC
 

I've been playing through a career as the Hampshire cricket club in International Cricket Captain 2005 for 5 game years now. For this dynasty thread we pick up the action at the beginning of the 2010 season, fresh off our most successful season yet, which saw us rank #2 in the County Championship series division 1, and 2nd in the national league division 2.

Hampshire's 2010 Squad:

Batsmen: (stats are First Class career stats, excluding 1D games)

Easily the strong point of my team. Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen are regulars for the national team, though Bell rarely performs consistently for my club. Kenway, a very aggressive hitter, and Brown, a reliable and steady batsmen, generally open for me, but I brought in the aging Michael Vaughan this year to open with Brown. Dalrymple and Bopara are capable of putting up big runs as well, but Lamb, Crawley, and Ervine have all pretty much fallen out of my rotation. Latouf had a bad year last season, and will struggle to get back in to a deep rotation. Bolland, a rookie call-up from my youth team, is very young and will probably spend most of the next couple of years playing for my 2nd team.

Wicket Keepers:
Kitson is my only true wickey, and had been a member of another team's youth squad. We snapped him up for depth, but he won't see a lot of play. M Brown, J Crawley, and D Kenway are all capable of playing wickey, and Kenway got the nod all last season while healthy.

All-Rounders:
Mascarenhas has been one of my better bowlers, and regularly plays for the national side. His batting hasn't been great for an all-rounder, but he's a good low-order option. Halstead has worked his way up for our junior ranks and shows promise. It's been hard to work him up in the rotation however, and I really need to give him a better run this year. Laraman was brought in last season and played great with both the bat and the ball, and was more responsible for keeping Halstead out of the lineup than anyone else. The Aussie Cameron White is a very good lower order batting option who is capable of putting up great scores, but I haven't give him much of a chance to bowl. I signed Marshall this past offseason mainly just because I had cash to spare and to keep him away from other teams. He'll spend most of the year with our reserve team.

Bowlers:
Tremlett is another National team regular, and is capable of some great games, especially in one dayers. M Lakshitha is a solid Sri Lankan bowler in his first season for us, taking over for the retired Irfan. They are big shoes to fill, but we are confident that Lakshitha is the goods. Spin bowler Johns came up through our junior ranks and has been great. When he's on, he's been deadly, but last year probably wasn't his best. Goode and McLeoud are both from our junior ranks and we're still to find out what kind of bowlers they are. Goode looks the goods (pardon the pun), but McLeoud has done well in limited overs. Ingham and Murphy are juniors who will struggle to get on the pitch, while Tomlinson is talented, but has fallen out of the rotation and is in danger of not working his way back in thanks to some poor performances in the reserve team.

April 17, Hampshire vs Sussex - National League Div 1

We find ourselves in Division 1 for the National League this year for the first time since we were relegated after my first season. For those who don't know, the National League is a limited overs (or one day) game, comprising of a maximum of 45 overs for each batting side. Both the National and County comps have a promotion/relegation setup, much like soccer, and both we and Sussex were on top of the ladder last season in Div 2, and are now in Div 1.

Hampshire Squad: (Stats are career National League stats)

Sussex Squad:

We win the toss and will bowl to start.

Both our opening bowlers, new recruit Lakshitha and Mascarenhas, struggle against Sussex's opening batsmen, and after bowling 5 overs each Sussex are 60 for 1 on 6.0 an over, the one wicket coming from Lakshitha. Tremlett and Laraman pick up the attack, with Tremlett grabbing a wicket thanks to some great bowling, but Laraman is a little expensive. After 4 overs each we rest Tremlett and bring our spin king Johns in. Neither Johns or Laraman can stop the runs, and after Laraman has bowled all his 9 overs for 0 wickets on 4.89 an over, we bring Tremlett back in with Johns, and both now pick up another couple of wickets to put us in a much better position. With Johns and Tremlett both having bowled all their 9 overs, we bring back in the openers to hopefully finish off these fresh low-order batsmen.

Both openers do the trick, and slow down the run rate, pick up some wickets, and hold Sussex to 216 runs after 45 overs, at 4.8 an over. A very good result considering Sussex's start to the game.

We come in to bat with a decent, yet by no means very difficult, run total to chase. Our opening batsmen Brown and Vaughan start well, but really start to struggle at around the 10th over, and the run rate required climbs to 5.5 as we are 36 for 0 at the 10th over. We bump up the aggression to try and keep the runs coming, but Vaughn hits it straight to cover to get out for 33 runs off 58 balls, and in comes big-hitter Kenway to bring us to the 20th over with a score of 89 for 1. Brown has 38, Kenway 10, and we need 5.1 an over to win. Kenway blazes away as per usual, with Brown playing his quiet yet consistant game, and at 30 overs we are 145 for 1, needing 4.8 an over to win with 9 wickets in hand. The very next over sees Kenway make a poor decision that leads to Brown getting run out for 56. In comes Pietersen, and despite a slow start from him Kenway is just smashing it, and the required run rate continues to fall. We ended up hitting the winning run with a comfortable 3 overs and 8 wickets remaining.

Hampshire win by 8 wickets

Scorecard:

Sussex
Hampshire
A very good start to the season - especially from Kenway. Our bowlers were a little rusty, but once they find their form we should be OK. A good job by our bowlers to slow Sussex down after a quick start, and a solid if not over-whelming response from our own batsmen to easily make the chase. Kenway is the man of the match.

I loved playing ICC with Warwickshire back in 2002. I'll be reading with interest.

April 20, Hampshire vs Durham - County Championship

We have been pretty strong in the County Championship for the past few seasons, being promoted to division 1 before last season, and then finishing 2nd. We should have finished 1st but a rash of injuries hit us while 3 of our best players were playing for the national side, seeing us severely understrength for a few games.

The team that finished first? Durham. So this will be a big match up for us. Durham have been dominant in both the County and National leagues and should prove a handful today. Their bowlers in particular are quite impressive, so we will need to limit Durham's run tally as we don't want to be chasing a big score against these bowlers.

For those who don't know, the County Championship is a 4-day match. Each team gets 2 innings to bat, and if the game isn't over by the end of the 4th day, the match is drawn.

I decide to keep the exact same squad and lineup as the previous National League game - something I don't usually do.

Hampshire Squad: (Stats are career County Championship stats)

Durham Squad: (Stats are career County Championship stats)

We lose the toss and Durham elect to bat.

Durham's 1st Innings:

Lakshitha and Mascarenhas both picked up early wickets, then Tremlett and Laraman struck, and not even a 72 from Durham batsman Perham could stop the collapse as Durham find themselves all out for an amazingly low score of 151. This is a tremendous start for us. We'll be looking to put up at least 251 to get a +100 edge, but the more runs the better.


Hampshire's 1st Innings:

We started out a little shaky with opener Brown being caught after just 13 runs, but Vaughan and Kenway put 54 runs on the board before Vaughn fell, and Kenway fell shortly after, leaving us 3-78 and starting to look a little vulnerable. Pietersen and Bell put together a decent partnership before Pietersen fell, starting a little bit of a slide before our all-rounder Laraman and Mascarenhas put together a massive 175 partnership stand to push our lead well out. After those two fell we didn't last much longer, but with 373 runs on the board this gives us a massive lead! A great effort against a strong bowling attack.


Durham's 2nd Innings:

We get off to a great start, claiming the scalp of Durham's batsman Barric for just 5, but then Jefferson and Perham show why Durham is such a strong squad, putting up an amazing 227 partnership. Finally Lakshitha and Mascarenhas get the wickets, and despite some decent performances from some mid and low order batsmen, it's not enough to put up a great score after an excellent start. We need 172 runs to win with plenty of time to do it, and unless my top through middle order completely collapses this shouldn't be an overly difficult chase. Having said that, if any team's bowling attack can humble us it would be this one, so it might prove an interesting final innings.


Hampshire's 2nd Innings:

The very second ball of the innings sees Brown out for a duck, but Vaughan and Kenway put together a nice 94 run partnership to steady the ship before Vaughan is run out after a bad call by Kenway. Pietersen then steps in to team up with Kenway for the 78 runs required to get the easy win.


A win over the top team from last season is a great start to our County Championship hopes. Our bowling was great for Durham's 1st innings, and even though Durham put together a pretty solid 2nd innings we managed to pick up all 10 wickets before they put together a sufficently high score to challenge us on our final innings. Brown dissapointed in both innings, but I have few complaints about the rest of our batsmen, and our bowlers were for the most part solid, though Johns can't be happy with his 1 wicket for 79 runs.

Durham batsman Perham wins man of the match after scores of 72 and 128.

Hampshire win by 8 wickets.

April 27, Hampshire vs Nottinghamshire - County Championship

A few days ago Nottinghamshire fell rather cheaply to Derbyshire in a game they probably should have won thanks to a poor 2nd innings score of 155. We should prove too talented for this Nottinghamshire squad, who have generally looked much better in the National League than the County Championship. Weather is expected to be fine for the first two days, overcast on the third, and the chance of a late shower in the final day.

Only change in our lineup is Halstead in for Laraman in an attempt to get more experience for our young all-rounder.

Hampshire Squad: (Stats are career County Championship stats)


Nottinghamshire Squad: (Stats are career County Championship stats)

We lose the toss and Nottinghamshire elect to bat.

Nice 7th wicket stand there. There's nothing more frustrating for the opponents then thinking that they're getting to the end of the innings only for a couple of players to knock off 100+ runs.

Nottinghamshire's 1st Innings:

Nottinghamshire's top order falls pretty quickly thanks largely to Mascarenhas, but the middle order - Smith, Franks & Alleyne - puts in a great effort to post an impressive run total. Mascarenhas was our only bowler to make much of a dent in Nottinghamshire's attack.

This means we are going to look to equal Nottinghamshire's score, then declare and hope we bowl better during their next inning.


Hampshire's 1st Innings:

Brown does it again, this time out for a golden duck on the very first bowl of the game. Vaughan and Kenway rally in an amazing way however, putting together a 209 partnership before Vaughn falls for 93. A bit of a slide hits after Vaughn's wicket, with Pietersen & Bell falling close together, but Kenway puts together a 95 run partnership with Dalyrmple, then a 25 run partnershup with Halstead before finally falling for 171. A decent 35 run partnership from Mascarenhas and Johns sees me declare at 391 for 7 at the end of the second day.


Nottinghamshire's 2nd Innings:

Lakshitha scalps Adams for a solid start, and we handle Nottinghamshire's middle order pretty easily, but a solid performance by their bottom order helps them to achieve a very decent total, and gives us a decent run chase. We need 289 to win, and we have exactly one day to do it - a very achievable goal, but we can't afford to slack off on our run rate, nor to drop too many early wickets.


Hampshire's 2nd Innings:

Brown finally breaks his slump and puts together a nice opening partnership of 64 with Vaughn before Vaughn falls. Kenway then steps in and continues where he left off, putting together a nice partnership with Brown and then Pietersen. When Kenway falls Pietersen and Bell aren't far behind however, and things are beginning to look grim, especially when Halstead also falls cheaply. Dalrymple, Mascarenhas and Johns are all able to stick it out however, and get the win with 2 overs remaining until the end of the final day in a game that was probably closer than it should have been.

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Nottinghamshire handled our bowlers pretty roughly, but thankfully our batsmen were up to the task. We need to improve against mid-order batsmen, because this game was much closer than it should have been, especially with how well we bowled against Nottinghamshire's openers. Kenway was man of the match thanks to his scores of 171 and 67.

Hampshire win by 3 wickets.

May 1, Durham vs Hampshire - National League

As is typical for them, Durham have jumped out to the lead in the division 1 National League with 2 wins. Neither win was even close, as Durham's bowlers, Plunkett in particular, completely manhandled the opposing batsmen. We will need to survive their opening bowlers in particular and look to score as close to 300 runs as we can get if we are going to win this matchup.

We decide to bring Laraman back in to the side for Halstead, and also give Cameron White the nod over Dalyrmple, who is out of form and could maybe use a game or two in the reserve team.

Hampshire Squad: (Stats are career National League stats)

Durham Squad: (Stats are career National League stats)

We win the toss and elect to bowl first.

Our opening bowlers started out pretty well, taking the scalps of both openers, but Laraman, Johns and Tremlett were all expensive and weren't getting wickets. Coetzer and Benkenstein put a great partnership together for Durham and, even without much help outside of a nice finish to their innings from Shafiq, manage to put a very decent score of 243 on the boards. A tough run chase.

Our openers Brown and Vaughan both take way to long to get anything going in the first 10 overs, seeing the required run rate begin to climb. Vaughan finally falls, with Brown shortly after, and Kenway and Pietersen try to turn things around with the run rate required approaching 10 an over - a nearly impossible obstacle at such an early stage of the match. Unfortunately Kenway falls and the next batsmen in our order all crumble, with 6 players falling for a total of 9 runs.

Durham win by 67 runs

Scorecard:

Durham

Hampshire

All in all, a pretty poor showing from us. Durham did well to put a nice total together, but we started slow and struggled when we tried to turn it up a notch to catch the ever-climbing run rate required. I'll need to rethink starting Brown and Vaughan against top notch teams in one-dayers, because I don't want to risk another performance like today.

Plunkett is man of the match for Durham thanks to his 4 wicket haul.

From what I remember of the 2005 Vaughan is, incorrectly, way too slow at getting runs in one days. I remember pulling my hair out about it when I played. Perhaps slide him to #3 and get a slugger in at the top to make the most of the fielding restrictions.