The Hampshire and Dorset Cricket Societies have meetings at the Romsey Golf Club (Wednesday) and Hurn Bridge, Christchurch FC (Tuesday) this week, starting at 2 o'clock and open to cricket enthusiasts and with membership available.
Richard Ellison, the former Kent & England all-rounder, is the guest speaker at tomorrow's HCS monthly meeting - everyone attending being asked to wear a mask and adhere to social distancing.
Dorset are hosting a special meeting on Thursday when members will remember with affection the late Alan Rayment. 
On almost the anniversary of Alan’s passing the DCS will be celebrating his life both in cricket and the wider world as Stephen Chalke launches his book “Punchy’s Hampshire Years” taking Alan’s story through from 1948-59, along with contributions from Tim Biles, Chris Finch and Andy Murtagh and followed by a cricket tea - sandwiches and cakes served at the club. 
At the end of the meeting Stephen will be selling his new book for £15 and also Alan’s own autobiography “Punchy Through The Covers” will be available for £5.

Winning the Southern Premier Division 2 bowling award almost put the icing on the proverbial cake for talented Wickham-based Fair Oak left-arm all-rounder Charlie Gwynn, pictured TOP LEFT after receiving his prize at the league’s presentation ceremony.
​The left-arm spin bowler, who recently graduated from Oxford Brookes University, took 33 wickets and scored 407 runs, making him Division 2’s stand-out player. 
“The only downside was Fair Oak not achieving promotion. We were in the mix for most of the season, but finished a disappointing fifth,” he reflected.
Champion Liphook & Ripsley opener Ryan Covey won the Division 2 batting award with 476 runs.
​Ventnor gloveman Ben Woodhouse is pictured (TOP RIGHT) with the Southern Premier League Division 2 Wicketkeeping Award, the town side’s skipper snapping up 19 dismissals behind the stumps to help the team finish runners-up behind champions Liphook & Ripsley.  It was the second time he had won a Premier League award.  Pic credit Dave Vokes.

TOTTON & ELING celebrate the Southern Premier League Division 1 championship, claiming top spot after winning ten of their 14 completed matches to nudge New Milton into second place.
Brighton Mugochi, with 219 runs and 15 wickets, shone with bat and ball, while promising teenager all-rounder Tom Chester (293 runs) was leading run scorer.  Harrison Clarke (275) and Harry Stephens (242) also made their mark with the bat, while teenager Toby Green put plenty of gas into his spin bowling, emerging with 18 wickets alongside Hakim Perusi.  Gloveman Oli Thomas bagged 15 victims behind the stumps. 

Keith Mitchell was a Newport Cricket Club legend.
When Keith was 15, he was sat on the bank at the town's Victoria Recreation Ground, ready to watch the Newport Thursday team. His schoolteacher, David Martin, rushed over to tell him they were one short. He drove him home to get his kit — and he stayed with the club for the rest of his cricket career.
He went on to score centuries galore (far too many to count) in five decades with Newport and, after laying up his willow, put numerous hours back into the game to loved, either through umpiring (he was among the island's most respected officials) or coaching the next crop of would-be young Newport cricketers.
Sadly, after a relatively short illness, he left the cricket scene a week or so ago and will bat his farewell innings at the East Cowes Crematorium, Whippingham on Friday 12 November 2021 at 11.15am and afterwards in the Fightings Cocks PH in Arreton. He celebrated his 80th birthday this summer.
Keith's sporting career wasn't confined to cricket. He was a decent footballer for Barton Sports, East Cowes Vics and Parkhurst Old Boys. In his younger days with Barton Boys he played alongside pop singer Craig Douglas, who in 1959 topped the UK charts with Only Sixteen. He later became a handy golfer at Osborne.
On-going knee injuries caused Keith to hang up his football boots – but how Newport and Island cricket benefited.  
Keith had just two games for Newport’s second XI and then went straight into the first team. 
Newport became unbeatable and won the very first Whitbread Knock-Out Cup in 1966. They beat Ryde and he scored 107 not out.   Ryde were skittled out for 99. 
When Keith was still a teenager, he played for the Island against the Hampshire Club and Ground, at the County Ground, Southampton, and faced the bowling of a young Bob Cottam and his own Newport team mate, Clive Smith, who was particularly hostile, as he’d been left out of the Island team. 
Keith made 70 not out and impressed Hampshire officials — so much so, he was invited back to play for their Club and Ground team, which included Cottam and Alan Castell. He batted well and kept wicket. 
                                                                      Won three new cricket bats
Keith said: “I never knew for many years Hampshire were keen for me to join them. David Martin kept this a secret for so long. I think it may have been because I was serving an apprenticeship at Saunders-Roe. I don’t think my dad would’ve let me go anyway.” 
Instead, he plundered thousands of runs for Newport in a 40-year career, which saw him score centuries spanning five decades. In one season, he won three new cricket bats, including the special Colin Cowdrey Award. 
One of his greatest personal moments, when he was the Island captain, was tossing a coin with the opposing MCC skipper — his idol, Godfrey Evans. 
He also appreciated the special note he had from the legendary Island skipper, Bill Jenkins, after he was surprisingly asked to take over from him as captain. Keith hit a century in his first game in charge. 
He still remembers his first game for the Island. It was against the Pakistan Eaglets, who included a very young Mushtaq Mohammad.  
When the brilliant young wicketkeeper, Alan Gurney, came along to Newport, Keith was more than happy to field at cover point and he became a south coast legend fielding there. 
Keith, who also enjoyed golf at Osborne, has been such a credit to the Island’s cricket scene. 
He coached young Newport players and, after retiring from the game, became a highly respected umpire. 
Keith is always more comfortable talking about other people more than himself. 
So many of his local friends and working colleagues have enriched and influenced him during his lifetime of sport and 43 years in the aircraft industry.  Keith Mitchell will be sadly missed in island sport. 

The two top order South Wilts wickets that Dan Stancliffe took in the final round of matches in late August ensured that the Burridge all-rounder finished top of the ECB Southern Premier League bowling charts - ironically with one more victim than his club captain Hilio de Abreu.
The tall right-arm seamer finished Burridge's 16-match summer with 31 wickets, finishing one ahead of de Abreu and South Wilts own Matt Burton, who took 30 apiece.
Stancliffe is pictured with the Barry Boorah Memorial Bowl awarded annually to the bowler who finishes with the most wickets in the Premier Division.
The award perpetuates the name of the late Barry Boorah, the Portsmouth & South Hants Touring Club left-arm spinner, who was the highest wicket taker of all time in Southern League cricket, with a staggering 666 victims.

Hampshire Academy skipper Toby Albert has been named Southern Premier League 'Young Cricketer of the Year' after scoring 533 runs, including three centuries, this summer.  
The 19-year old Newbury-based batsmen went on to make several Royal London Cup appearances for Hampshire and play in the Vitality T20 Blast finals at Edgbaston, besides top scoring in Berkshire's crushing National County Cup final win over Cumberland.
This website is hoping to secure an interview with Toby to talk about his 2021 successes and the way he has fought his way back from a career threatening knee injury.

South Wilts have been officially crowned ECB Southern Premier Division champions for a sixth time.
They are pictured having collected the trophy and their individual medals at the SPL’s awards dinner in Southampton.  Thrashed by nine wickets by Bashley (Rydal) after being skilled for 79 in their opening game, South Wilts bounced back and charged to the title, winning seven of their last eight matches. Overall, they won 12 of their 15 completed matches and also won the 'red ball' pennant.

South Wilts' captain Ben Draper looks as though he's ready to audition for BBC television's ​children's quiz show CrackerJack after lifting so many trophies at the Southern Premier League presentation dinner !
The SPL's youngest ever title winning captain is pictured holding (i) the Premier Division trophy, (ii) the 'red ball' pennant, (iii) the SPL wicketkeeping award, (iv) the Premier Division championship pennant, and (v) just for good measure, his own etched glass trophy.   Fortunately, he didn't drop any of them .. even with his gloves on ! No need for cabbages then ...

For the benefit of this website's younger readers, CrackerJack was made famous on the BBC in the early Sixties by the late Leslie Crowther, a real cricket fanatic and leading comedian of his time. Leslie Crowther spoke alongside Sussex cricket legend George Cox at a Southern League awards dinner at Waterlooville back in the mid-1970s, the evening being rated as the best presentation function in fifty years.​

ECB Southern Premier League ‘Team of the Year’ selectors have just completed an all-night sitting and announced their chosen XI from the past 2021 season.
The panel had particular difficulty in choosing a six-man top batting order, with Jack Mynott and Felix Organ both declared ineligible having been restricted to only eight appearances each during the season.
The Academy, Bashley (Rydal), Bournemouth, Burridge and South Wilts each has two players in the line-up.
Southern Premier Division team –
1. Jacob Gordon (Bashley Rydal) – 463 runs 
2. Josh Digby (Bashley Rydal) – 381 runs + 25 wickets
3. Toby Albert (Academy) – 533 runs
4. Ximus de Plooy (Lymington) – 513 runs + 20 wickets
5. Harry Broderick (Academy) – 423 runs
6. Hilio De Abreu (Burridge) – 343 runs + 30 wickets
7. + Ben Draper (South Wilts) – 354 runs + 29 victims 
8. Robbie Pack (Bournemouth) – 29 wickets (econ 2.39)
9. Dan Stancliffe (Burridge) – 31 wickets + 173 runs
10. Dan Conway (Bournemouth) – 25 wickets (econ 2.96)
11. Matt Burton (South Wilts) – 30 wickets + NO runs.
Matt Burton was unable to convince selectors that he should bat above 11, having failed to score a single run in 2021.  30 wickets will do, however ..
Non travelling reserves: Harry Gadd (Havant), James Hayward (South Wilts), Richard Jerry (Havant),  Bash Walters (Alton), Luke Webb (Bournemouth).

Lord’s Village Cup heroes Ben Johns and Mark Lavelle are named in the Southern Premier Division 1 ‘Team of the Year’ announced this morning.
The left-hand pair played significant roles in Calmore Sports lifting the Voneus Village Cup at the first time of asking – and again did well in the league, Johns scoring 428 runs.
Champion duo Brighton Mugochi and teenager Tommy Cheater wear the Totton & Eling colours in a potentially controversial select XI pick.
Rowledge spin teen Oli Baker, whose 26 wickets was complemented with 216 runs, just missed out.

Southern Premier Division 1 team of the year –
​1. Ben Duggan (Portsmouth) – 469
2. Ricky Rawlins (Sarisbury Athletic) – 412
3. Ben Johns (Calmore Sports) – 428
4. Harlan Greig (New Milton) – 295 + 30 wickets
5. Josh Hill (Sarisbury Athletic) - 430
6. Brighton Mugochi (Totton & Eling) – 219 + 25 wickets
7. Mark Lavelle (Calmore Sports) – 25 wickets
8. Tommy Cheater (Totton & Eling) – 293 + 9
9. Babu Veettil (Andover) – 26 wickets
10. + Ben Wish (Rowledge) – 19 victims
11. Bradley Tyler (Basingstoke & North Hants) – 29 wickets
Travelling reserve: Oli Baker (Rowledge) 216 + 26

The ECB Southern Premier Division Team of the Year will be announced on Friday at 1 o'clock.

The ECB has confirmed that the LV= Insurance County Championship will return to two divisions from next summer following a vote by the First-Class Counties
This decision follows discussions between ECB and First-Class Counties to determine how and when a return to two divisions could be achieved
Hampshire are among the ten counties which will compete in Division One and eight in Division Two with a two-up, two-down promotion-and-relegation system
The LV= Insurance County Championship will return to two divisions next season following a vote by the chairs of the 18 First-Class Counties.
The return to a two-division LV= Insurance County Championship, after two Covid-affected seasons, will see the competition move to the 10:8 structure that was agreed by the First-Class Counties prior to the pandemic.
2022 LV= Insurance County Championship structure:
• Counties will play in two divisions. There will be 10 counties in Division One and eight in Division Two with a two-up, two-down promotion-and-relegation system.
• Each county is due to play 14 LV= Insurance County Championship matches.
• The counties will be placed into the division that they had qualified to compete in had the 2020 LV= Insurance County Championship taken place.
The England and Wales Cricket Board’s role ahead of this week’s vote has been to facilitate discussions between the First-Class Counties and provide the options available to them.
The priority of those discussions has been to determine when and how a return to the two-division structure – featuring 10 counties in Division One and eight in Division Two as agreed by counties following the 2018 Domestic Playing Programme (DPP) - could best be achieved.
The process to transition to that structure had begun during the 2019 LV= Insurance County Championship. At the end of that season three counties were promoted from Division Two (Lancashire, Northamptonshire, Gloucestershire) while the last-placed Division One county (Nottinghamshire) was relegated.
A two-division LV= Insurance County Championship has, however, not taken place since then due to Covid-19.
It has always been the intention of the First-Class Counties and the ECB to return to the two-division structure at the earliest opportunity.
After the First-Class Counties voted to change the format of men’s first-class cricket in 2020 and 2021 to mitigate against the impact of Covid-19, this week’s vote also considered the option to play one further year of the seeded group structure that was successfully staged this summer.
Although there was support from counties to use the 2022 season as a way to step back to a two-divisional structure, there was not the two-thirds majority that was required under the ECB Articles.
The LV= Insurance County Championship will, therefore, be played in the new two-divisional structure from next season.
2022 LV= Insurance County Championship - Division One
Essex, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Kent, Lancashire, Northamptonshire, Somerset, Surrey, Warwickshire, Yorkshire.
2022 LV= Insurance County Championship - Division Two
Durham, Derbyshire, Glamorgan, Leicestershire, Middlesex, Nottinghamshire, Sussex, Worcestershire.

​Hampshire leg-spinner Mason Crane has been selected in a 14-man England Lions' tour to Australia, starting on November 4.
The Lions will be in camp alongside the England Ashes squad and will play two intra-squad matches (1 x 3-day and 1 x 4-day matches) in Queensland. They will also take on Australia A in a four-day match. Dates and venues are still to be confirmed. The party will return home on 16 December.

Matt Burton is South Wilts’ Cricketer of the Year – reward for the 30 front line wickets he took to spearhead the club’s triumphant ECB Southern Premier Division championship summer. 
His wicket haul, which included a season defining 6-47 return against runners-up St Cross Symondians, was the second highest in the SPL, behind Burridge all-rounder Dan Stancliffe, with 31 victims.
“The way Matt has developed as an opening bowler should be an inspiration to all young players,” said skipper Ben Draper, who has gloved the Premier Division wicketkeeping prize.
“Matt has had an outstanding year with the ball, contributing positively every game he played. He  should be extremely proud of his influence in helping us win the league. 
“He’s a South Wilts junior through and through, and it's great to see him doing so well. I’m sure there will be more positives to follow in 2022.”
Another Matt – 15-year old Matt Falconer – is already making significant waves at Bemerton, scooping the Second XI player of the year award, alongside being named 2021 Jack Sillence Young Cricketer.
He made a fifth and enjoyed a five-wicket return in Southern Premier Division 2 cricket this summer.
South Wilts awards - 
President’s Award - Andrew Stagg 
Clubman of the Year - Sean Burke 
Junior Clubman - George Nash 
Team of the Year - 1st XI (Premier Division winners)
Players of the season: 1st XI - Matt Burton, 2nd XI - Matt Faulkner, 3rd XI: - Kit Blomfield, 4th XI - Connor Bain.
Jack Sillence Memorial Under-16 awards
Player of the Year: Matt Falconer, Batting: Alex Vincent, Bowling: George Nash

Four members of Liphook & Ripsley’s championship winning side have been named in the Southern Premier League Division 2 ‘team of the year’.
They are opener Ryan Covey, all-rounder Suman Ganguly, Rowledge recruit Joe Randall and skipper Sean Burton, who spearheaded the title drive.
Ventnor, who are promoted alongside Liphook, had an ‘automatic’ selection in West Indian Anthony Alleyne, while Ben Woodhouse had a fine season with the gloves, alongside creating a mini-population explosion on Vectis isle.
Arguably SPL 2’s MVP was Fair Oak all-rounder Charlie Gwynn, with 407 runs and 33 wickets.
 
Southern Premier League Division 2 team of the year –

Ryan Covey (Liphook & Ripsley) – 476 runs + 13 wickets
Joe Cranch (South Wilts II) – 377 runs
Anthony Alleyne (Ventnor) – 696 runs + 15 wickets
Charlie Gwynn (Fair Oak) – 407 runs + 33 wickets
Roy Cockram (Hartley Wintney) – 369 runs
Suman Ganguly (Liphook & Ripsley) - 348 runs + 15 wickets
+ Ben Woodhouse (Ventnor) - 207 runs + 20 victims
Joe Randall (Liphook & Ripsley) - 28 wickets
Sean Burton (Liphook & Ripsley – 28 wickets
Wayne Smith (Fawley) – 29 wickets
Matt Bampton (OTs & Romsey) – 23 wickets (econ rate 2.78)
 
Who’s in the Division 1 Team of the Year ?  You can find out this Thursday evening … 

Emerging spin all-rounder Dan Cox has been named Lymington's Cricketer of the Year after a summer in which he took 29 ECB Southern Premier League wickets, the fifth highest in the Premier Division.
His figures included a best-yet 6-15 return in the six-wicket win over the Hampshire Academy in early July, the last time Lymington won a match before slithering to second from bottom place to finish only ten points ahead of Alton, who relegated. Cox, who makes the most expensive 'sea crossing' on the planet by travelling to play for Lymington from his Isle of Wight home each Saturday, also made 247 runs.

Henry Glanfield is optimistic that Norway selectors will keep a closer eye on his Southern Premier League performances for Hambledon next time they select a squad for an international tournament.
Surprisingly, the talented Hambledon all-rounder was overlooked for the recent Dream11 European T10 Championships in Malaga, despite scoring  564 runs and taking 16 wickets in this past summer's title winning Division 3 campaign.
Norway won three group matches before being eliminated by next door neighbours Sweden.
Glanfield may have been overlooked for the Euros, but is one of three Hambledon players chosen in the SPL Division 3 Team of the Season.
The side selected specifically contains two spin bowlers and a batsman/wicketkeeper and has been compiled from 2021 statistics.
  
Division 3 Team of the Year is -

1 Jack Budd (Langley Manor) - 708 runs
2 Dan McGovern (Hambledon) - 449 runs + 11 wickets
3 Henry Glanfield (Hambledon) - 564 runs + 16 wickets
4 Jack Davies (Portsmouth & Southsea) - 415 runs
5 Conor Browne (Langley Manor) - 353 runs 
6 + Nigel Le Bas (Trojans) - 294  runs  + 11 victims
7 Jacob 'Emmas' Harris (Gosport Borough) -325 runs + 15 wickets
8 Ed Berry (Tichborne Park) -18 wickets
9 Jonty Oliver (Hambledon) -17 wickets
10 Keith Harris (Basingstoke & North Hants II) - 23 wickets
11 Liam Shore (Hook & Newnham Basics II) - 23 wickets.

Non-travelling reserves: Jamie Donaldson (Trojans), Syed Mahmood (Trojans), Jack Richards (Gosport Borough) and Scott Taylor (Gosport Borough).
​
The Division 2 team will be announced around coffee time on Thursday morning,

Now we know the composition of the England Ashes squad to visit Australia later this year, we can get down to the proper stuff and find out who's been 'selected' for the four Southern Premier League Divisional teams for 2021.
It is pleasing to report that the Zimbabwe election counters have now sifted through the ballot papers, removing those 'spoiled' ones from PO12 postcode addresses, where the voters coloured in the ballot papers instead of inserting an X in the box.  
It is believed 'spoiled votes' may have earned the number 4 batting spot in the Division 3 team !
How many players from runaway champions Hambledon will be selected, for instance ? Stand by for the SPL3 team to be announced on Wednesday tea-time.

South Wilts all-rounder Arthur Godsal and Bournemouth’s Luke Webb are a European cup winners !
While Webb was restricted to a comparative low key role, Godsal was one of the stars, taking 19 tournament wickets as England, whose squad was drawn entirely from cricketers from the National (Minor) Counties Championship, won the inaugural Dream 11 European T10 championships in Malaga, Spain.
The ten overs per side competition, which was televised globally, embraced 16 European countries and England had to defeat Australia, Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and hosts Spain to become champions.
Webb made 63 runs in five knocks, 49 of them coming in a group win over Germany, whereas Godsal  had a key role to play, bowling the ‘death’ eighth and tenth overs – and having to defend a 50 yard boundary – way shorter than at Bemerton !
Nonetheless, he emerged with great credit, taking three wickets in three of England’s victories – besides taking one of the catches of the tournament, low down, off his own seam bowling against Germany.  He was named man-of-the-match against Italy.
“It took a while getting used to playing on an artificial surface with a short boundary as a lot of mis-hits we’re going for six - but there were many strikes which would’ve been a six on any ground as some of the striking from opposition teams was incredible,” Godsal explained.
“Length and line was really important.  We also had to adopt the mindset of every ball being an event and to try and win as many balls as possible. 
“The overall standard in the tournament took me by surprise. It was very good. There were many amazing ball strikers. Every bad ball went for six and even good ones, so there was a lot of learning, which took place from watching opposition play. 
“I went into the tournament very open minded with the aim of giving my best.  I got better as the tournament went on with my execution by having more clarity in my plans and I was very happy to be able to contribute.”
The all-Asian Belgian side, who peppered the small Malaga ground with sixes throughout the tournament, posted a formidable 148-6 off ten overs in the final.
But were blown away in another plethora of 'maximums' by Harrison Ward as England won by ten wickets, with seven balls to spare to become European champions ! 
​Below: Arthur Godsal steams in for England NCCA in the European T10 Championships.

​Former Havant and Hampshire Academy all-rounder Andy Gorvin has fulfilled his ambition for 2021 by earning his first professional contract with Glamorgan.
The 24-year-old from Hayling Island has signed a contract for next season after a successful run with the Welsh club this summer.
Gorvin said: “I’ve had a good year in the second team and enjoyed being part of the one-day squad, so it’s great to be a full-time pro.
“When I started the season that was the end goal and I’m looking forward to having a good winter and taking that into next summer.  I’ve got a lot of hard work to do and I just hope that if I get the opportunity next year I’ll take it.”
Gorvin joined Glamorgan on a one-month short-term contract during the summer and played four matches during the club’s victorious Royal London One Day Cup campaign.
He didn’t play in Glamorgan’s cup final triumph over Durham at Trent Bridge in August, but bowled tidily in the group matches against Northants, Somerset and Surrey, where he took the wicket of the retiring Ricky Clarke in a 1-15 spell off three overs.  Gorvin is pictured below celebrating Clarke's wicket.
​He was only an inch or two away from being a Welsh batting hero at Taunton, where he went to the crease with Glamorgan requiring a six to win the match off the last ball. Gorvin hit a four, the ball landing just inside the boundary rope.
A past captain of Portsmouth Grammar School, Gorvin was a regular pick for Hampshire’s junior age group sides in his formative years, making his U13 debut in 2010. Two years later he played a lead role in the U15s reaching the ECB county final at Oakham, where Hampshire were beaten by a powerful Lancashire side, half of whom played in the recent Bob Willis Trophy final at Lord’s.
Gorvin also made his Havant debut in 2012 and three seasons later earned a Hampshire Academy deal. A-levels achieved, he graduated to Cardiff, where he recently celebrated a Masters degree in Financial Economics.
He was part of the Cardiff UCCE set up and has also featured for Wales National County, while playing a prominent role as St. Fagan’s won back-to-back titles in the ECB South Wales Premier League.

Teenage Basingstoke & North Hants prospect Neil Shelar has won the prestigious Peter Lewin Memorial Bowl after being named Hampshire Under-15s cricketer of the year.
He scored over 600 runs for the county, including an unbeaten 103 against Somerset and four other 60-plus knocks, during a summer in which he pillaged a staggering aggregate of 1,657 runs in all junior and senior cricket.  Shelar played regularly for Basingstoke & North Hants seconds in the Southern Premier League Division 3.
Shelar was also leading run scorer in Hampshire’s ECB Under-15 Cup group, playing a significant role as the side won all eight of its 50-over county games.  They also played five early season 100-ball format games.
Havant all-rounder Charlie Whitfield and Ben Foster (St Cross Symondians) both batted consistently, while hit Canford prospect Eddie Jack and Ryde’s Will Mew were arguably the pick of the bowlers.
Hampshire Under-15 results –
(+ denotes ECB Under-15 County Cup)
Hampshire 105-6 (Foster 33, Hutchinson 20) Cricket Wales 104-6 (Mew 3-23). Hampshire won by one run (100 ball match).
Hampshire 156-2 (Shelar 68*, Whitfield 48*) Buckinghamshire 92-2 (Humzah 59*). Hampshire won by 64 runs (100 ball).
Oxfordshire 71-7 (Mew 2-12) Hampshire 72-0 (Shelar 37*, Whitfield 27*). Hampshire won by ten wickets (100 ball).
Somerset 122-7 (Kettle 2-15, Mew 2-23) Hampshire 108-6 (Shelar 68). Somerset won by 14 runs (100 ball).
Hampshire 106 (Foster 19, Khanna 5-23) Somerset 107-3 (Hill 54*, Foster 2-17). Somerset won by seven wickets (100 ball).
Hampshire 226-9 (Jack 66, Foster 60, Shelar 37, Baker 25, Ward 4-57) Cornwall 87 (Jack 4-30, Baker 2-9, Mew 2-16). Hampshire won by 139 runs.
+ Hampshire 240-8 (Shelar 73*, Whitfield 47, Acheson-Gray 36) Gloucestershire 226-9 (Sharp 76, Whitfield 2-21, Kettle 2-30, Mew 2-47). Hampshire won by 14 runs.
+ Hampshire 212-3 (Foster 80*, Shelar 77*) Somerset 208 (Pitman 51, Kettle 3-20, Claisse 2-48). Hampshire won by four runs.
+ Cricket Wales 207 (Mohindru 73, Prichard 3-32, Baker 2-16, Mew 2-48) Hampshire 148 (Whitfield 62). Cricket Wales won by 59 runs.
Surrey 232-9 (Karpe 68, Berry 45, Jack 4-41, Mew 2-40) Hampshire 198 (Shelar 42, Falconer 29, Spink 25). Surrey won by 34 runs. 
+ Somerset 198 (Willoughby 36, Claisse 5-25, Mew 4-45) Hampshire 199-4 (Shelar 103*, Hutchinson 39, Reynolds 29. Hampshire won by six wickets.
+ Devon 197 (Mount 63, Whitfield 3-13, Norris 2-38) Hampshire 200-5 (Whitfield 59, Jack 43, Baker 38, Foster 32) Hampshire won by five wickets.
+ Cornwall 184 (Osmont 50, Mew 3-30, Norris 2-24, Burnand 2-38) Hampshire 185-4 (Foster 77*, Prichard 33, Jack 25). Hampshire won by six wickets.
+ Gloucestershire 167 (Sharp 44, Hope 44, Cordery 3-17, Kettle 3-39) Hampshire 168-9 (Shelar 32, Whitfield 30, Jack 27*, Tarrant 4-36). Hampshire won by one wicket.
+ Hampshire 123 (Shelar 24, Weir 3-23) Devon 83 (Jack 4-24, Prichard 4-28). Hampshire won by 40 runs. 

​In sporting parlance, Ian Watmore, who has stepped down as chairman of the ECB after little more than a year in the job,
He had lost the dressing room. He had lost the confidence of the board, the executive, the forum of first-class county chairmen and chief executives and, after the horror show surrounding the decision to cancel the Pakistan tour, the confidence of cricket followers around the country. He had to go, writes Michael Atherton in The Times..
The gathering of the first-class chairmen and chief executives at Lord’s last week during the Bob Willis Trophy final, when they failed to come to a decision on the structure of the County Championship for 2022, was the last straw.
The meeting was a shambles, badly run and acrimonious in spirit, described by an attendee to me as the worst he had witnessed in any walk of life. After that it was only a matter of time.
Moves had been afoot since then, although there was some thought that the board would not act until after the Ashes decision and arrangements for the tour had been finalised. As it was, Watmore was visited by two members of the board on Wednesday afternoon during which the decision was agreed. They were pushing against an open door, as Watmore himself had come to realise that the job was more challenging than he anticipated.
If the meeting of the first-class chairmen and chief executives was the last straw, then the cancellation of the Pakistan tour was the decision that brought everything to a head. It was a terrible decision: shamefully reneging on a commitment with no good reason, appallingly delivered to the chairman and chief executive of the Pakistan Cricket Board, and justified with a comical press release. It made English cricket look like a laughing stock.
Worse, it made English cricket look high-handed, arrogant, duplicitous and weak all at once. Pakistan, a proud cricketing nation that had saved the English game from potential financial catastrophe at the height of the pandemic, was not even given the courtesy of a straight answer. The worst kind of arrogance. It is hard to exaggerate the sense of hurt and anger in Pakistan over an engagement that carried far more significance than a mere two T20s.
Hiding behind excuses such as player wellbeing and welfare simply didn’t wash when there were no good grounds for cancellation and no attempts to even raise a team. After protestations from the British High Commissioner to Pakistan, from the players’ representatives and taking into account public statements from the ECB’s own executive team, they couldn’t even get their story straight.
Unable to justify the decision or how it was announced, Watmore went to ground for a week, before his communications team encouraged him to plant a weak apology in carefully selected national newspapers. It was an obfuscation really, rather than an apology, and made matters worse. Those advising him have some questions to answer, too: first, thinking they can put out any old fluff in a press release and get away with it, and then being unable to tackle a mess of their own making.
Watmore came to his position, as a paid non-executive chairman, with little hard experience in the game, other than as a longstanding and genuine cricket supporter. Zoom can hide a lot and for most of the early part of his tenure, meetings were conducted remotely because of Covid. The board did not meet in person from the outbreak of the pandemic until midway through this summer. These face-to-face meetings and those with the executive did not go especially well. So with the executive grumbling, the first-class chairmen and chief executives unhappy, and supporters displeased about the perception of English cricket after the Pakistan cancellation, he had few allies left.
Cut from a very different cloth to his combative predecessor, Colin Graves, Watmore had tried to please everyone, but had ended up pleasing no one. The decision on Pakistan was a case in point: the offer of two extra T20s was intended as a thank you for last summer before a full tour in 2022, and thus was paved with good intentions, but ended up a costly (reputationally, rather than financially) mess.
Watmore will step down immediately and his deputy Barry O’Brien will assume the role for an interim period, but not permanently. It is to be hoped the appointment of the next chairman will be done with more rigour. Little in Watmore’s recent career, as a civil servant, brief chief executive of the FA and non-executive director of the English Football League, suggested he was cut out for the rough and tumble of cricket politics.
Watmore’s going should occasion others on the board to question their role as well. Anyone with an ounce of cricketing sense, or an understanding of the world game, should have been able to see how disastrous the decision to cancel the Pakistan tour was going to be, but there is a real absence of cricketing knowledge and expertise among the non-executives. It always seemed likely to me that there would be some serious fallout from cancelling the Pakistan tour. Ultimately, Watmore had to be accountable for the mess.  Article reproduced by kind permission of The Times.

Dorset cricket is mourning the loss of retired Bournemouth opening batsman and, more recently, prominent umpire Merrick Wilkinson, who died recently, believed to be in his mid-Seventies.
Cricket was Merrick’s life, initially playing in Middlesex and then, when his professional career as a financial adviser lured him south, spending many a happy Saturday playing for Bournemouth’s successful 2nd XI in the old Southern League Second XI Championship.
A Bournemouth man through and through, and immaculately attired, he was almost an ever present for the Wanderers on Sundays and was a prominent member of the Dorset Over-50s side for several seasons.
“His obstinate retention of his wicket under all circumstances did not do justice to the fine array of shots that he had at his disposal, and he was an excellent team member of Bournemouth Sports Club, where he also played and subsequently umpired hockey,” recalled long-time team-mate Keith Balmer.
“He and I opened the batting for Dorset Over 50’s on numerous occasions, and his debut away against Cornwall resulted in a ten-wicket win for us, with both Merrick and I undefeated in chasing down 178.
“He was sadly unwell on that historic day in 1990 when Bournemouth seconds bowled their Alton counterparts out for nought.  He watched it all unfold from the other side of the boundary rope.”
Merrick’s love of cricket and his meticulous way of doing things benefitted the umpiring fraternity when he finally retired from playing and left the crease in 2010.  
He chaired the Dorset Association of Cricket Umpires & Scorers for four years, driving the organization forward.  Hugely respected, he umpired in the Dorset League and officiated in county age group matches.
Merrick will always be remembered for his professionalism as an umpire, excellent feedback and support he would provide on match days, and his overall dedication to cricket.
The past summer season has been particularly testing for umpires, with appointed officials having to ensure Covid 19 restrictions were strictly adhered to, particularly at schools matches such at Canford, where Wilkinson enjoyed officiating.
Merrick’s meticulous approach in this direction ensured matches went off without a hitch and, both on and off the field, he was always happy to provide feedback and offer advice.
Poole Town CC, with whom he had close ties socially, described Merrick as “one of the best, a gentleman and an umpire who earned the respect of everyone on the field.”
Merrick Wilkinson’s funeral is at Harbour View, Randalls Hill, Lytchett Minster, Poole, Dorset, BH16 6AN, on Thursday October 21 and 2.30pm.   The service will be open to all.  Photo James Robinson.

Former Middlesex and England off-spin bowler John Emburey is the guest speaker when the Hampshire Cricket Society raises curtain on its new winter season at the Romsey Golf Club - SO16 0XW - on Wednesday 6 October 2021 at 2.30pm.
The meeting is open to all local cricket enthusiasts who will have the opportunity of joining the HCS - www.hantscricsoc.org.uk - for the modest sum of £10 per annum.
Twice an Ashes winner, Emburey made 64 England appearances, forming a successful and artistic spin partnership with Phil Edmonds during the Middlesex dominance of County Championship cricket in the 70s and 80s under Mike Gatting.
Tomorrow is the first of seven monthly afternoon HCS meetings at either the Romsey or Test Valley Golf Clubs, with Richard Ellison, Ian 'Gunner' Gould and Mike Selvey all due to speak in the coming months.

South Wilts cricket has been saddened by the death of long serving left-arm bowler and club stalwart Des Jeffery after a long illness. He was 82.
Des spent 23 seasons at Bemerton between 1960 and 1985, retiring from the South Wilts scene one shy of 950 wickets.  His career ended after he suffered a heart attack on the pitch.
In all cricket, which included spells with Devizes, South Newton and the Wiltshire 50s, he had well over 1,100 victims under this belt.
A left-arm seamer with a long run-up, he joined South Wilts as a 21-year old from his home village club Winterbourne and went on to form a formidable opening bowling partnership with the late John Alford, also making appearances for Hampshire Club & Ground.
Jeffery was in his prime in his early 20s, achieving the feat of taking over 100 wickets in 1962, and tallies of 90, 83 and 75 victims on other occasions.
Ducking the ball late into the right-hand batsman’s pads, Des was miserly in the extreme, with one quarter of the 4,780 overs he bowled being maidens !
His batting was not his strongest suit and for many years he vied for the number 11 spot in the South Wilts batting order with long time team-mate Alford, being not out on 74 of the 239 occasions he batted. 
Upon turning 50, he quickly established himself in the Wiltshire Seniors team, his economical bowling helping the county side reach the knockout stages of the ECB 50-plus Championship on several occasions.
A natural sportsman, Des took up golf in the mid-1980s and was Senior Champion at Salisbury & South Wilts in 2010.
Having spent his entire working life with the Highways Department of the old Wiltshire County Council, it was no surprise that, upon retirement, he should devote his energies to working on the ground at Bemerton, which in recent seasons has become one of the best in the region.
He loved horse racing too and was a regular at meetings at Salisbury and across the South.
*  The funeral service will be at Salisbury Crematorium on Wednesday 3rd November at 12:00. The wake in celebration of his life will be at Salisbury & South Wilts Golf Club.