Nottinghamshire will bring their 2015 domestic schedule to a close when they face Hampshire in a LV= County Championship match which starts at Trent Bridge on Tuesday 22 September at 10.30am.
Both sides will be desperate to push for maximum points, for differing reasons. Nottinghamshire’s seven-match unbeaten run has lifted them up to third spot in the table and a win from this final match may even see them end the campaign as runners-up.
Hampshire go into the final round of matches in the relegation zone and will return to Division Two unless they can overhaul a 16-point gap between themselves and seventh-placed Sussex, who travel to Headingley to face champions Yorkshire.
Notts’ chances of catching second-placed Middlesex, who are away at Worcestershire, are boosted by the availability of England fast bowler Stuart Broad.
Head To Head
Nottinghamshire and Hampshire have met on 136 previous occasions in first class cricket. Notts have slightly the better record, winning 39 of the matches, to Hampshire’s 34, with a further 63 contests having been drawn.
There have been 69 occasions when Nottinghamshire has hosted the contest, with all but two of them (Worksop in 1964 and 1968) being staged at Trent Bridge.
Home wins have numbered 19, with the last three Nottinghamshire successes spreading over 33 years, in 1982, 1999 and 2011.
Hampshire have won 14 matches on the road and the remaining 36 contests have been drawn.
Last Time
The last occasion in which Nottinghamshire and Hampshire played a County Championship fixture at Trent Bridge was for the opening round of fixtures in the 2011 season.
Liam Dawson and Jimmy Adams put on 91 for the opening wicket after Chris Read had won the toss and inserted the visitors. From there on, Hampshire subsided to a fairly rapid nine-wicket loss.
Bowled out for 218, with Andre Adams taking five for 54, Dominic Cork’s side then surrendered a first innings advantage of 109, with Samit Patel scoring 116, despite David Griffiths taking six for 85.
Hants made only 131 in their second innings, with Adams claiming six for 31, to give him eleven wickets in the match.
Needing only 26 to win, Notts got home in 4.1 overs, despite the loss of Paul Franks.
History
Highlights from previous first class meetings between Nottinghamshire and Hampshire include:
1930 at Southampton:
The final day was never going to give much value for the admission price as the home side needed just one more run for victory. Notts took to the field in lounge suits, rather than in traditional whites, Fred Barratt and Bill Voce even wearing their overcoats. The second delivery, bowled by Arthur Carr, was hit away for four by Alex Kennedy, enabling the visitors to make a speedy getaway for their long journey home.
1966 at Trent Bridge:
Nottinghamshire’s first championship match to include Sunday play also produced one of the most bizarre endings. Chasing 238 on the final day, Hampshire were 236-5 with one ball remaining. Henry Horton played the ball forward and set off for the run but appeared to deliberately kick the ball away from the fielders as he completed the single. Reports indicated it was a clear case of obstructing the field. After half an hour of deliberations, Notts captain Brian Bolus confirmed that his side had not made an appeal for such a dismissal. Hampshire, having ended the match with the scores level, were thereby awarded five extra points. Sunday’s play – day two of the match – saw spectators admitted to the ground without charge provided a scorecard was bought at the increased price of one shilling.
1981 at Bournemouth:
Gaining experience of English conditions, one of the umpires appointed was Shakoor Rana, the Pakistan official who became embroiled in a finger-wagging row with Mike Gatting, the England captain, six years later.
1999 at Trent Bridge:
Nottinghamshire were dismissed for 324 on the first day of their PPP Healthcare County Championship match against Hampshire at Trent Bridge. Nothing particularly unusual about that – except the top scorer in the innings was extras with 73. Made up of 25 byes, 18 leg-byes, six no-balls and 24 wides, the contribution was the most ever recorded in a single innings against Notts.
2004 at Trent Bridge:
For the first time, a championship match at Trent Bridge saw both teams pass 600 in their first innings. Hampshire made 641-4 declared, thanks to an unbeaten 301 from John Crawley and a century from Australia’s Michael Clarke. Nottinghamshire’s response was equally emphatic with David Hussey (170), Mark Ealham (113 not out) and Darren Bicknell (103) scoring tons of their own in a total of 612. Needless to say, the match was drawn.
2010 at Southampton:
Steve Mullaney made a century on his Nottinghamshire debut, scoring an unbeaten 100 in his side’s victory.
2011 at Trent Bridge:
Notts made the most sporting of gestures when visiting wicketkeeper Nic Pothas had injured himself and was unfit for the second day of the match. The home side offered and allowed their academy keeper Adeel Shafique to keep for the opposition. With approval by both umpires and the ECB, the 17-year-old kept impeccably for Hampshire for the entire morning session until replacement Michael Bates arrived.
Played For Them Both
Michael Lumb joined Hampshire in 2007, after beginning his career at Yorkshire. The left-hander played in 54 first class, 53 one-day and 47 T20 matches for the Southampton-based county.
His highest score for them, 219, ironically came against Notts in a 2009 championship match at Trent Bridge.
He moved to Notts ahead of the 2012 season and has so far played in 50 first class, 35 one-day and 33 T20 matches for his third county.
Others to have represented both counties include, Andre Adams, Imran Tahir, Mike Taylor, Richard Logan, Bilal Shafayat, Kevin Pietersen and Adam Voges.
Stats (for all first class matches between Notts & Hampshire)
Highest Team Total
Notts: 612 (Trent Bridge 2004)
Hants: 714-5 dec (Southampton 2005)
Highest Individual Score
Notts: 239* CB Harris (Trent Bridge 1950)
Hants: 311* JP Crawley (Southampton 2005)
Best Bowling
Notts: 9-21 TL Richmond (Trent Bridge 1922)
Hants: 8-36 CJ Knott (Bournemouth 1953)
Hat-Tricks
Notts: HJ Butler (Trent Bridge 1939)
Hants: CT Tremlett (Trent Bridge 2005)
Chris Tremlett’s hat-trick was the last to be taken against Nottinghamshire and included the wickets of Mark Ealham, Graeme Swann and Greg Smith.
Did You Know?
On Nottinghamshire’s pre-season tour of Barbados they came up against Hampshire fast bowler Fidel Edwards. The West Indian quick was guesting for the Combined Campuses and Colleges in a two-day match at North Stars CC.
Edwards returned figures of eight for 40 as Notts were reduced to a score of 99 for nine on the opening day of the tour.
Milestones
James Taylor (991) needs nine runs to reach 1,000 in the County Championship this season.
Riki Wessels (920) needs 80 runs to reach 1,000 in the County Championship this season.
Riki Wessels (980) requires a further 20 runs to reach 1,000 in first class cricket this season.
Brendan Taylor (978) needs a further 22 runs to reach 1,000 in first class cricket this season.
Chris Read (923) needs a further 77 runs to reach 1,000 in first class cricket this season.
Steven Mullaney (860) needs 140 runs to reach 1,000 in first class cricket this season.
Steven Mullaney (48) needs two more wickets to reach 50 in first class cricket.
Harry Gurney (149) needs one more wicket to reach 150 first class wickets for Nottinghamshire.
Samit Patel (97) needs three more catches to claim 100 first class catches for Notts.
Coverage
BBC Radio Nottingham will be providing ball-by-ball on-line commentary, via the BBC Sport website.
Follow the live scorecard, regular text updates, radio commentary and Live Stream from days one and two through your perfect match-day companion Trent Bridge Live.
Trent Bridge will host England's One-Day Internationals against Sri Lanka and Pakistan in 2016. Sign up here to be the first to hear about fixture and ticketing information for these two matches.