Basingstoke & North Hants raised batsman Max Harsham has notched his first century in senior club cricket - in soaring temperatures in South Africa's Cape province.
Barely a week after arriving in Cape Town for the second half of the Western Province 'winter' season, Harsham strapped on his pads for the first time in over four months and promptly hit the first ton of his fledgling career.
The 23-year old, who spent his formative years as a junior at May's Bounty, was making his debut for the city's northern suburbs side Victoria, with temperatures touching the mid-nineties.
Harsham scored extactly 100, sadly in vain as Victoria's fell an agonising six runs short of Cape Town CC's 232-8 in a 50-over WPCA Premier Division match.
He batted all 50 overs of the Victoria innings, but the energy sapping heat gradually got the better of him and the side was only able to hit two boundaries in the last 15 overs of their reply.
Harsham punched his body in delight as he scampered a single to bring up his maiden 100.
"It was pretty demanding stuff. I've played a few games in the West Indies before, but never in heat like that. It must have been touching on 100 fah in the morning, so fielding was gruelling as well," he explained.
"It got harder and harder to score runs as the day went on. It was disappointing we lost so narrowly. It was a great effort to get so close, but I've got to be pleased with the start I've made here and need to build on it."
Harsham last played for Basingstoke & North Hants in 2019, spending last summer with Bishopston, making five half-century plus scores for the Bristol side in Division 2 of the West of England Premier League.
* Longparish product Billy Mead (29), who helped St Cross Symondians win the 2019 ECB Southern Premier Division title, was playing for Cape Town. Hartley Wintney teenager Harry Broderick is playing for the club's second team.
Barely a week after arriving in Cape Town for the second half of the Western Province 'winter' season, Harsham strapped on his pads for the first time in over four months and promptly hit the first ton of his fledgling career.
The 23-year old, who spent his formative years as a junior at May's Bounty, was making his debut for the city's northern suburbs side Victoria, with temperatures touching the mid-nineties.
Harsham scored extactly 100, sadly in vain as Victoria's fell an agonising six runs short of Cape Town CC's 232-8 in a 50-over WPCA Premier Division match.
He batted all 50 overs of the Victoria innings, but the energy sapping heat gradually got the better of him and the side was only able to hit two boundaries in the last 15 overs of their reply.
Harsham punched his body in delight as he scampered a single to bring up his maiden 100.
"It was pretty demanding stuff. I've played a few games in the West Indies before, but never in heat like that. It must have been touching on 100 fah in the morning, so fielding was gruelling as well," he explained.
"It got harder and harder to score runs as the day went on. It was disappointing we lost so narrowly. It was a great effort to get so close, but I've got to be pleased with the start I've made here and need to build on it."
Harsham last played for Basingstoke & North Hants in 2019, spending last summer with Bishopston, making five half-century plus scores for the Bristol side in Division 2 of the West of England Premier League.
* Longparish product Billy Mead (29), who helped St Cross Symondians win the 2019 ECB Southern Premier Division title, was playing for Cape Town. Hartley Wintney teenager Harry Broderick is playing for the club's second team.
