The season may only be five weeks old - four in terms of matches played after the Coronation Day washout - but champions St Cross Symondians have already made a major statement.
Their 54-run win over Havant, arguably the next strongest club in the ECB Premier Division, has established them as firm favourities to lift the Southern Premier Division title for a second consecutive season.
Accepted it is early days, but St Cross look to have significant strength in depth to withstand challenges from elsewhere - the dog eat dog scenario down the Premier ladder likely to help their silverware cause.
St Cross didn't enjoy the best of starts on a dry, sun kissed Green Jackets strip, with Havant seamer Richard Jerry (2-24) sending Harry Trussler and Joe Lewis back to the pavilion in his second and fourth overs.
Hampshire's Felix Organ hit 30 of his 33 in boundaries as St Cross quickly recovered, but in the lead up to lunch the Winchester hosts took a firm grip with Charlie Mumford (58) and Charlie Gwynn (41) adding 41 to lift the score to 137.
Then, in eight bizarre minutes immediately before the break, St Cross lost three wickets for nine runs - Mumford, Gwynn and Simon Woodruff - and Havant, with 145-6 glittering on the electronic scoreboard, were back in the game.
Symondians' aforementioned strength in depth came into play when Ed Ellis emerged at seven to strike a critical 42 and ease the title holders to 201 all out, Chris Morgan taking 3-52 with his left-arm spin.
Havant's prospects of chasing down the target took a significant blow when Victorian Sam Beer rearranged Fletcha Middleton's stumps with the first ball of his second over.
In truth, Havant never recovered. Harry Gadd (43) fought hard, but Organ's spin bowling won the day - the Hampshire all-rounder celebrating his 24th birthday with a 5-39 return that saw Havant fall to 147 all out.
Their 54-run win over Havant, arguably the next strongest club in the ECB Premier Division, has established them as firm favourities to lift the Southern Premier Division title for a second consecutive season.
Accepted it is early days, but St Cross look to have significant strength in depth to withstand challenges from elsewhere - the dog eat dog scenario down the Premier ladder likely to help their silverware cause.
St Cross didn't enjoy the best of starts on a dry, sun kissed Green Jackets strip, with Havant seamer Richard Jerry (2-24) sending Harry Trussler and Joe Lewis back to the pavilion in his second and fourth overs.
Hampshire's Felix Organ hit 30 of his 33 in boundaries as St Cross quickly recovered, but in the lead up to lunch the Winchester hosts took a firm grip with Charlie Mumford (58) and Charlie Gwynn (41) adding 41 to lift the score to 137.
Then, in eight bizarre minutes immediately before the break, St Cross lost three wickets for nine runs - Mumford, Gwynn and Simon Woodruff - and Havant, with 145-6 glittering on the electronic scoreboard, were back in the game.
Symondians' aforementioned strength in depth came into play when Ed Ellis emerged at seven to strike a critical 42 and ease the title holders to 201 all out, Chris Morgan taking 3-52 with his left-arm spin.
Havant's prospects of chasing down the target took a significant blow when Victorian Sam Beer rearranged Fletcha Middleton's stumps with the first ball of his second over.
In truth, Havant never recovered. Harry Gadd (43) fought hard, but Organ's spin bowling won the day - the Hampshire all-rounder celebrating his 24th birthday with a 5-39 return that saw Havant fall to 147 all out.
