Warne to lead from the front - again
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Revolving door
Damien Martyn and Matthew
Hayden were mooted but, on the
back of a £750,000 loss for Rose
Bowl plc, Hampshire had to settle
for the younger, lesser-known
Dominic Thornely of New South
Wales. Michael Carberry has come
from Kent in an attempt to solve
the opening batsman problem.
Homegrown Derek Kenway and
Lawrence Prittipaul have gone.
Winter wonderland
The ever-changing Rose Bowl
has sprouted six floodlight
pylons (at under £100,000 each)
as the next step towards the Test
status coveted by the ambitious
chairman Rod Bransgrove.
Strengths
Warne's captaincy, Warne's
bowling. The middle order looks
solid too. John Crawley, Englandeligible
Nic Pothas, Sean Ervine,
Dimitri Mascarenhas, Greg Lamb
and Jono McLean all have decent
claims in the probable absence of
Kevin Pietersen.
Weaknesses
No Pietersen, maybe even no Shaun
Udal after his Mumbai heroics
- and finding the right opening
partnership is a perennial problem.
Injuries to Ervine and Chris
Tremlett are a worry to manager
Paul Terry. The pace bowling
lacks depth and experience.
Over-reliance on Warne's ageing
wizardry is another concern.
Best-case scenario
The opening problem is solved,
the middle order lives up to
expectations, Tremlett stays fit
and the spinners Warne and Udal
find wickets to help them. The
result? Championship outsiders
and could do better than last
season in the one-dayers.
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Worst-case scenario
Warne comes back from Australia's
April tour of Bangladesh two stone
overweight and with his right wrist
in plaster after a fall in one of
Chittagong's many pubs, England
keep Pietersen and Udal, Ervine
and Tremlett struggle with injuries
and Division One survival becomes
the only feasible target.
Young one to watch Kevin Latouf, South African-born, Hampshire raised, is a precocious batting and fielding talent with a C&G winner's medal already. Watch out also for the aggressive batsman Mitchell Stokes.
Key man
It would be nice to find someone
other than Warne. But, seriously,
Hampshire are going to rely
heavily on the great man.
What they say
"Everything looks encouraging,"
says Paul Terry, "even if we have
a few bowling problems. Sean
Ervine may not be able to bowl
initially after his knee operation,
while Chris Tremlett is coming
back slowly from his knee
surgery."
Mark Wagh
Led by the mercurial Warne,
Hampshire are a fine team.
Ervine is an excellent allrounder and
a fit Tremlett is a threat. Very difficult
for a team to do well in both four-day
and one day competitions but Hants
have the firepower to try.
Predictions County Championship 3rd (D1) Pro40 1st (D2)
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