Hampshire County Cricket - E D R Eagar, H S Altham, John Arlott, Roy Webber

To say that the story of Hampshire cricket is cricket’s own story is scarcely an exaggeration. The Hambledon Men’ – Richard and John Nyren, Lumpy Stevens and John Small, gypsy Noah Mann and the rest – who thought nothing of taking on All England, cut their wickets on Broad halfpenny Down, close by the Bat and Ball Inn.

The keen rivalry on the rolling downs is admirably recaptured by H S Altham, co-author of The History of Cricket and president of the County Club, whose official history this is. He opens our innings with well-timed hits which land far outside the tidy boundaries of recorded cricket history.

Mr Altham also deals with the period between 1796, the year in which Hambledon played their last match, and 1862, when Hampshire County Cricket was founded. In taking us up to 1914, he tells  of the great efforts for the county of Cape. Wynard, of indomitably cheerful and portly Baldwin, and of Hampshire’s joy at beating the West Indians in 1906.

Next man in is John Arlott, who covers Hampshire cricket between the wars. In these years Philip Mead, the county’s greatest batsman, was fashioning his majestic career. Mead, Newman, Brown and Kennedy were a truly formidable quartette – and the Hon. Lionel Tennyson pursued his jovial if autocratic way. Never has Mr Arlott written with such insight and pervading warmth as in his pen-portraits of these great Hampshire characters – his boyhood heroes.

Only one man could write with complete assurance of the Hampshire eleven today – the man who let them to third place in the County Championship in 1955 and made them one of the best fielding sides in the country – their captain, Desmond Eagar. His is also, of course, the County’s hard-working secretary.

Roy Webber, statistician No.1, completes our fine team of contributors by providing a complete individual and team record of Hampshire County Cricket from 1895, the year they entered the Championship, right up to date.

Fully indexed, and with 25 pages of historic photographs, this is a book for all who love cricket.