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Club historian Dave Allen looks back over the years at some of our T20 meetings with Essex at The Ageas Bowl
At the start of 2022 we had met Essex more than any other side, winning 15, losing 13 with three tied games and eight no results. In the inaugural T20 season of 2003, our overseas stars Simon Katich 59* and Wasim Akram 1-19, were not able to prevent an Essex victory at the Rose Bowl – we finished five runs short of our victory target of 156. We had two fixtures against them in 2005 but the first at home never started and the second was abandoned. In 2006, Carberry’s 53 helped us to 151-4 and then our ‘spin twins’ Udal (3-21) and Lamb (3-23) skittled Essex for 115 in the 17th over – still their lowest score against us.
In 2007, David Griffiths took 3-13, with Sean Ervine 50* as we won with more than seven overs to spare at the Rose Bowl. There had been no close matches between the two teams to that point but in 2008 we tied at the Rose Bowl, Hampshire 164-6, Essex 164-8 with half centuries from Carberry and Jason Gallian. The Rose Bowl in 2009 saw our highest total against Essex, 219-2 - with Michael Lumb’s 124* still our highest T20 innings v any side and Lumb and Carberry adding 170 for 2nd wicket our highest against any side in T20 as we won by 75 runs.
Bopara with 94* won the match at the Rose Bowl in 2010 by nine wickets; all was not disappointment however because both sides reached Finals Day at the Rose Bowl and we won the semi-final against them, chasing down 157 with four balls to spare. Abdul Razzaq with 44 and Danny Briggs 3-29 were our key players, and we went on to win the trophy.
We won one each in 2011 including a revised D/L target at the Rose Bowl; while the 2012 match was another lost to the rain. In 2013, a half-century from Carberry won the game by five wickets, while Vince (57*) and Owais Shah (50*), took us to a comfortable eight-wicket win in 2014.
We began 2015 with a 17-run victory (Adams 55*, Arafat 3-27) at the The Ageas Bowl, but lost both games in 2016, a year of unusual T20 struggle for Hampshire, despite 62 from Vince in the home game. In 2017, George Bailey’s 89* was not enough as Essex won again with two balls to spare. 2018 was not a happy campaign for Hampshire, and the game at the The Ageas Bowl was yet another ‘No Result’. The game in 2019 was a low-scoring tie, Essex posting 139-7 (Lawrence 69, Abbott 3-15) while Hampshire’s 139-6 was led by Sam Northeast with 73. Essex went on to win their first Trophy that year.
In 2020 Westley (51) and Lawrence (49*) took Essex to 168-3, which was far too good for Hampshire who finished on 114-9 (Niijar 3-22) – none of Hampshire’s batters reached 20. We reversed things last year led by Vince (63) and Wheal (2-21), with Hampshire’s 171-8 giving them victory by 18 runs.
Fans enjoying a summer’s afternoon or evening of Vitality Blast action at The Ageas Bowl can look forward to free family-friendly activities, live music and a whole host of off-pitch entertainment as well as the best food and drink in English cricket – that’s in addition to all the edge-of-your-seat cricketing action that T20 promises.
Vitality Blast Passports have now sold out after a record number of fans secured their seven-match passes for the 2022 season. Individual match tickets are on sale for this summer’s Vitality Blast at the discounted Advance rate until 11:59pm the day before each match. Click the link below to purchase yours.
Hampshire Hawks have also announced a brand-new type of ticket for this summer’s T20 matches at The Ageas Bowl, the Vitality Blast Plus ticket, which offers an upgrade on general admission tickets with premium reserved seating and access to a private, pitch-facing lounge and bar.
Vitality Blast Plus tickets have sold out for the mouth-watering T20 ‘el clasicoast’ double-header on Saturday 4th June but a limited number of these new tickets are still available at the Advance rate for each of Hampshire Hawks’ other Vitality Blast matches.
Getting to The Ageas Bowl for this summer’s Vitality Blast is easier and more affordable than ever before as fans will be able to make use of free buses running to and from The Ageas Bowl from Hedge End and Southampton Airport Parkway train stations.
You won't need a ticket or any accreditation to use the free buses - simply turn up at the stations and get on board - however, if you are planning to use the buses we would ask you to complete the short registration form (available below) to ensure we're able to provide enough vehicles for all fans using the services.
