'Hampshire's old County Ground at Northlands Road in Southampton was cramped and rundown. with no room to expand.' from 'Summer's Crown The Story of Cricket's County Championship' by Stephen Chalke.
Between 1996 and 1999 I made four visits to Northlands Road, all of which I enjoyed and certainly never got the impression that it was 'cramped and rundown'. Clearly as it was surrounded by houses there was no room to expand but the sun usually shone and I always seemed to gain access to the pavilion bar. The quotation from 'Summer's Crown' is an extract from a piece devoted to The Rose Bowl to where Hampshire moved in 2001 thanks to the generosity of Rod Bransgrove and where ten years later they were added to the list of counties hosting test matches.
Hampshire first played at Northlands Road in 1885 and Derbyshire were the first county to visit for a game that only lasted two of the scheduled three days. Derbyshire batted first and after being 0 for 1 made 427 with Frank Sugg* hitting 187. Hants were bowled out for 135 and then made only 49 in their second innings with William Cropper taking 7 for 25. Cropper came to a very sad end for while playing football for Staveley against Grimsby Town he died from a ruptured bowel sustained in a tackle, aged only 26.
My first trip to Northlands Road came in August 1996 for the fourth day of a championship match with Gloucestershire, a meeting which became known as Cardigan Connor's match when in the visitors' first innings he became the first Hampshire player to take nine wickets in an innings at Northlands, including four for nought in six balls. The last day began with Glos on 27 for 0 needing a further 351 to win. They fell 63 short with Udal the main threat taking five for 82 including last man Courtney Walsh with the fifth ball of the last over.
I returned to Southampton the following year when Warwickshire were the visitors in what Wisden describes as 'a dreadful match for bowlers'. Warwickshire 631 for 7 and 252 for 1 Hants 548 for 6 and 274 for 9 tells the tale.Warwickshire's second innings was inflated by the use of occasional bowlers Robin Smith and Matthew Hayden. It was perhaps justice that Hampshire's last pair played out the last seven overs to deny the Bears victory. Proper cricket was played on the second day when I saw Matthew Hayden in dominant form.
1998 provided me with the opportunity to see Durham at Northlands Road when a drawn game meant that Hampshire retained the dubious title of being the only side not to have beaten Durham. I was there on the first day when my native county were bowled out for 203, top score of 48 for John Morris. On the last day when it seemed inevitable that Hampshire would be able to claim the same bragging rights as the other 16 counties with a victory rain prevented any play until after lunch and an unbeaten 97 from Martin Speight who contributed all but three to an unbeaten partnership of 61 for the last wicket with Lugsden extended Durham's lead until more rain ended proceedings.
My last trip along the A27 came in 1999 on the 8th of September for the first day of the last home match of the season. Somerset were in town and there was added spice in the fixture for this was the season when final positions would determine whether teams played in Division 1 or 2 of the reorganised county championship in 2000. On the first day only two wickets fell as Tasmanian Jamie Cox batted throughout the day for 165, finding support from Trescothick, Holloway and Bowler. A drawn match meant Hampshire slipped below the dividing line but scrambled back above it in a feisty match at Derby the following week.
Stephen Chalke's piece about The Rose Bowl which set me thinking about my visits to its predecessor, comes on page 290 of Summer's Crown and on page 291 he turns his attention to Hove where Sussex like Hampshire found themselves in funds from a benefactor, In this case the money came from Spen Cama who died in 2001. Chalke suggests that they considered following Hampshire's example by moving out of town but instead upgraded what had been their home since 1890. A short drive from the County Ground Hove takes you to what was Brighton and Hove Albion's old football ground, The Goldstone, which they left in he most acrimonious of circumstances in 1997 and it was 14 years before the Seagulls finally landed at their present home in Falmer. I wonder if those troubled years influenced the thinking of the powers that be at Hove.
* Frank Sugg played in two tests for England, played for three counties, Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Lancashire. He was also a professional footballer with five clubs, a weighlifter, shotputter, long distance swimmer, reached the final of the Liverpool amateur billiards champioship, was a crack shot and held the record for throwing the cricket ball. It is not known what he did in his spare time although he was also a mean hand on the bowling green and umpired first class cricket.
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