Hampshire roll back the years with Hawks T20 return

The county's initial seven-year incarnation as Hampshire Hawks garnered two limited-over trophies, winning the C&G Trophy in 2005 and the Friends Provident Trophy in 2009

Hampshire have rolled back the years and will be known once again as Hampshire Hawks in the T20 Blast from this summer onwards.

The county were known as the Hawks when the Twenty20 Cup first began in 2003 and continued through to the end of the 2009 season, at which point the club became known in white-ball competitions as Hampshire Royals – in line with a partnership alongside Indian Premier League side Rajasthan Royals.

The initial seven-year incarnation garnered two limited-over trophies, winning the C&G Trophy in 2005 and the Friends Provident Trophy in 2009.

Following the conclusion of the Royals collaboration, the county moved to become Hampshire Cricket across all three domestic formats.

While returning to being known as Hawks for T20 cricket, Hampshire Cricket will remain in place for the first-class and List A formats.

𝗛𝗔𝗪𝗞𝗦 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞 🟡🪶#TheReturn #HampshireHawks pic.twitter.com/1URvfLlIDD

— Hampshire Cricket (@hantscricket) May 11, 2021

“The Hampshire Hawks are entwined with T20 history and while our return to the Hawks is a nod to this provenance it also marks the start of an exciting new chapter for T20 cricket at The Ageas Bowl,” said Hampshire chairman Rod Bransgrove.

“The Hawks provided our supporters with many fond memories during T20’s formative years and we look forward to creating more memorable moments over the coming seasons.”

In the guise of Hampshire Hawks, the county faced Sussex in the first-ever professional T20 match; John Crawley was captain, with Wasim Akram and Simon Katich as overseas players featuring alongside England internationals Dimitri Mascarenhas, Shaun Udal, Alan Mullally and Ed Giddins.

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