Hampshire gear up for Isle of Wight spectacle in County Championship

England Test star Stuart Broad will be among main attractions, while Ajinkya Rahane will become the first Indian to play for the county having jetted in to replace Aiden Markram as Hampshire's overseas player

Former Hampshire man David Griffiths is hoping the likes of Stuart Broad and Ajinkya Rahane can help make the Isle of Wight a cricketing hotbed again.

First-class cricket makes its comeback on the island for the first time in 57 years on Monday when Nottinghamshire visit Newclose in the Specsavers County Championship.

England Test star Broad will be among main attractions, while Rahane will become the first Indian to play for the county having jetted in to replace Aiden Markram as Hampshire’s overseas player.

“I think Nottinghamshire will have Stuart Broad and there will also be other international cricketers on show and for All Stars cricketers and other youngsters it could be their first experience of cricket,” Griffiths said.

“There will be plenty of people from the Isle of Wight who haven’t seen cricket before.

^{Stuart Broad is set to play on the Isle of Wight}

“Broad and Rahane are massive names in cricket. Broad is one of the best bowlers in England and Rahane is one of the best batters in the world.

“They are going to be incredible to watch.

“The island has missed this standard of cricket. Fifteen years ago there were some really good players coming out the Isle of Wight.

“There was a generation, with me and Danny Briggs, to play first-class cricket after a quite big gap and hopefully this will bring out the next crop.”

Fast bowler Griffiths was born in Newport on the Isle of Wight and learned his trade at Shanklin Cricket Club before making 100 first-team appearances for Hampshire and Kent.

The likes of Rahane and Broad will be living out one of Griffiths’ childhood dreams – playing professional cricket on his home island.

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“I’m not sure I ever played for Hampshire on the island but might have been back with Kent in the second team," Griffiths said.

“It would have been lovely to go back for Hampshire where I grew up playing my cricket. Playing for Hampshire on the Isle of Wight would have been my dream.”

Griffiths also gave a sneak peak of what to expect at Newclose.

“It is a first-class ground,” he said. “They have spent a lot of money on it over the years and it is a shame they haven’t played any first-class cricket there before.

“It took a couple of years for the wicket to bed in but having played there a couple of years ago it is a good wicket.

“I think there was a second XI game there earlier this year and loads of runs were scored so hopefully that shows there will be plenty of runs on offer.

“A lot of clubs, especially around London, have cricket weeks at some nice schools and nice private grounds; so if you can get a one-day game or a Championship and a T20 game there each year that would be great.”

Liam Dawson is on the fringes of the England team

Griffiths, who is now Southern Premier League side Basingstoke and North Hants’ director of cricket, came through the Hampshire ranks with the likes of Liam Dawson and James Vince.

Both Dawson and Vince are hoping to sneak into England’s World Cup squad, and Griffiths is proud of their accomplishments.

“It is a shame I’m not there with them doing it at the same time,” Griffiths joked.

“You could tell at a young age that Daws and Vincey would go far.

“For one or other of them to get in a World Cup squad would be incredible for Hampshire and as a good friend of them still it would be awesome to see them in a World Cup in your home country.”

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Hampshire are less than a week away from Saturday’s Royal London One-Day Cup final against Somerset – as they aim for back-to-back Lord’s triumphs.

Griffiths was an integral part of Hampshire’s 2012 winning campaign, and fondly remembers his big day out in London.

“Let alone being one of my greatest games of Hampshire or in cricket, it was probably one of the best days of my life,” he said.

“I grew up wanting to play for Hampshire and then wanting to play at Lord’s – that was the only time I got to play there for my home club.

“It was a boyhood dream and it was even better that we won off the last ball.

“To be playing with a lot of lads I grew up with made it a great day.”

Report courtesy of the ECB Reporters Network

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