Born On This Day: 18th December

Will Kendall was born in Wimbledon in 1973. Batsman Will Kendall played in representative schools cricket, before his Hampshire 2^nd XI debut in 1992, age 18.

At Oxford University, he won his ‘blue’ in 1995 & 1996 and in the latter year he scored 145* v Cambridge University at Lord’s, and in the following month, made his Championship debut for Hampshire.

In just his second match at Southampton, he scored 42 & 63 against a Gloucestershire attack led by Courtney Walsh. In all cricket that year, he passed 1,000 runs and after two seasons in-and-out of the Hampshire side, seemed to establish himself in 1999 with 1,186 runs at 39.53 including 201 v Sussex which brought his county cap.

He was appointed vice-captain and seemed a likely successor to the senior role, as his average improved slightly in 2000 with four figures again and three more centuries.

In 2001, however, Hampshire moved to the Rose Bowl, where the pitches were difficult for batsman and in his four seasons there, his average dropped to the mid-twenties with 705 runs in 2002 the best aggregate, while his only century was back at his old university ground.

As an example of the difficulties, he was the first player to ‘carry his bat’ at the Rose Bowl, with an innings of just 53*, in an innings defeat v Leicestershire, reminiscent of the days of uncovered pitches and ‘outgrounds’. He was just 30 when his promising career came to an end.

He played in 127 limited-overs matches for the county, passing 2,000 runs at 21.90. His one limited-overs century came v Middlesex, ironically at the Rose Bowl, when, captaining the side he arrived at the wicket with the Hampshire score 6-3, guided them to 241-7 and led them to victory by 24 runs.

He played for some years for Bradfield Waifs, particularly in the Cricketer Cup, and as a fine all-round sportsman, he was once offered terms to play professional football by Reading FC.

Also today: Reginald Studd a member of a cricketing family, who played in two Championship matches for Hampshire in our first season in the competition, 1895.