Giles White: ''It's A Competition We Always Enjoy''

The Royal London Cup is back for 2022 and Hampshire - who last won the fifty-over competition in 2018 - are fresh off the back of their Vitality Blast triumph and will be looking for a white-ball double.

With many senior players playing in The Hundred, including Club captain James Vince, it gives Nick Gubbins the chance to skipper the side while a number of younger players will get the opportunity to impress in cricket’s original cup.

We sat down with Giles White, Hampshire’s Director of Cricket, to talk about the importance of the competition, especially for the Club’s younger players, how the squad is looking this year and how he rates Hampshire's chances of success in 2022's Royal London Cup.

How excited are you for the return of the Royal London Cup?

We’re very excited. We feel like the squad we have in front of us is definitely a strong one - with a nice mixture of youth and experience. It’s a competition we always enjoy and one we feel that we can compete for more silverware in.

How important is the Royal London Cup for the county, especially for the younger players looking to develop?

The Royal London Cup has always been an important competition for the county as it makes sure our flow of fixtures continues. With a lot of the senior players playing in The Hundred, it also allows us to give our younger players a chance perform and develop while gaining first team experience.

With the likes of Scott Currie, Tom Prest and Toby Albert already earning experience in the Vitality Blast, is this is a chance for those younger players to stake their claim for more first team opportunities?

Of course! We were delighted with the guys that came into the Vitality Blast team – obviously Tom got the Man of the Match award in the semi-final against Somerset and we were all really pleased for him.

Toby and Scott also made a few appearances and were in and around the squad which was great for them. Every time a player plays in the first team, they have the chance to impress and push for more.

There are also a few experienced heads in there, are you looking for them to lead by example?

Yes, Nick Gubbins has been appointed as captain for this year’s competition which is really exciting.

Then to add in the likes of Aneurin Donald, Ben Brown, Ian Holland and Felix Organ – amongst others – gives us a really strong batting group and we are confident that they will be able to help those younger guys out.

Having already tasted white-ball success this year, how confident are you that the squad can achieve something in this year’s Royal London Cup?

With the squad we have we are certainly confident that we can do well this year. We missed out on the quarter-finals last year but I feel we are in a much stronger position going in to this year’s competition and it’d be nice to reach the latter stages.

Tickets for this August's Royal London Cup campaign are on sale now - and available at the discounted Advance rate until 11:59pm the day before each match. To secure yours simply follow the link below.