Hampshire consider staging matches on a new ground on the Isle of Wight

The increasingly congested fixture list means first-class or one-day cricket could even be played on their nursery ground. Reverting to playing on outgrounds will delight traditional cricket lovers

Hampshire are considering staging matches on a new ground on the Isle of Wight and at an old venue in Basingstoke next year owing to World Cup fixtures at Ageas Bowl.

The increasingly congested fixture list means first-class or one-day cricket could even be played on their nursery ground. Reverting to playing on outgrounds will delight traditional cricket lovers.

Hampshire last played on the Isle of Wight in 1962, at the J Samuel White ground at Cowes, and have not staged a match at Basingstoke, a popular venue with their supporters, since 2010. Players have been less willing to put up with club facilities than spectators.

^{The Ageas Bowl will host World Cup fixtures next year}

A Championship match starting on May 20, a Monday, has provisionally been chosen for the Isle of Wight following transportation discussions with Red Funnel ferry group. “We are looking very favourably at Newclose on the Isle of Wight and at Basingstoke,” said Rod Bransgrove, the Hampshire chairman.

Bournemouth, where the club also played regularly and where their first Championship was clinched in 1961, and the United Services ground at Portsmouth, are unlikely to be used, but the advent of The 100 in 2020, when Ageas Bowl is also a designated ground, means that secondary venues increasingly will be required.

Club cricket has been played at the attractive ground near Newport since this was completed in 2009 and it has also been used by Hampshire’s 2nd XI and MCC. Created at a cost of £2m out of agricultural land, it has a sizeable pavilion and restaurant with white benches modelled on those at Lord’s and a scoreboard similar to the one at The Kia Oval.

This article first appeared in the November issue of The Cricketer

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