Karunaratne signing adds to sense of renewed hope
Hampshire’s winter of change has left Ageas Bowl regulars dreaming of a County Championship title challenge.
After a diffi cult first-class campaign last year, during which the side edged away from relegation danger only in the fi nal few weeks of the season, the appointment of a new coaching staff and some wily recruitment work has given the club renewed optimism for 2019.
Adrian Birrell, the former Ireland boss, was formally confirmed as first-team manager in December, taking on the role vacated by Craig White.
Birrell’s work with the Irish a place in the Super Eights at the 2007 World Cup (cricket world cup match today), including that famous win over Pakistan, and a world top-10 ranking indicates that Hampshire have made an intelligent choice.
A diverse CV, which includes time in charge of England Under-19s and a four-year stint as South Africa assistant coach, means Birrell brings an abundance of experience with him to the south coast. The arrival of a new coach will not detach the dressing room from the management however, following the appointment of Jimmy Adams as one of Birrell’s assistants.
Adams, the popular former Hampshire batsman, retired at the end of last season but will provide an excellent conduit between players and coaching staff in the early weeks of the new regime.
The third cog in the new-look machine, Alfonso Thomas, will work with the Hampshire bowlers and can offer advice built from a 17year playing career, much of which was spent in the county system. Between them, then, the backroom team has all bases covered, but the confidence felt around the Ageas is equally derived from the club’s transfer business.
With Adams and another fan favourite, Sean Ervine, leaving the playing ranks at the end of 2018, Hampshire acted quickly to fill the boots of a combined 462 first-class appearances. Keith Barker, the former Warwickshire allrounder, adds both a left-arm option and more than 350 career wickets as well as a useful lower-order batting average in red-ball cricket. Middlesex supporters, meanwhile, were unhappy to see James Fuller leave for the Ageas after claiming 28 wickets at 30 in 2018. Though the absence of Dale Steyn at least for the fi rst half of the season, with the South African having suggested he could return after the World Cup limits Hampshire’s arsenal a little, Barker, Fuller and Fidel Edwards present a nifty three-pronged attack.
The batting line-up looks better than nifty, however. Replacing the class and calm of Hashim Amla at the top of the order was never going to be an easy task but in Dimuth Karunaratne, Hampshire have made an astute selection.
Karunaratne, a member of the ICC’s Test Team of the Year for 2018, averaged 46.44 for Sri Lanka last year despite his country’s various trials and tribulations, and in a 12-month period where opening batsmen struggled around the globe. If he can recreate that form for Hampshire his 2019 stats have been somewhat modest, it should be noted then a potent middle order of fi ne English talent, including James Vince and Sam Northeast, will have the platform to make sizeable scores.
Northeast himself will be praying for a summer without injury, having missed a chunk of 2018 with fi nger problems. The Kolpak duo of Kyle Abbott and Rilee Rossouw will once again hope to play a prominent part in Hampshire’s 50-over campaign, where the county are defending champions, but much more is expected of the team in the Vitality Blast. Just two wins in 14 group games in 2018 was a miserable return, hampered by batting collapses and the meagre impact made by overseas players Colin Munro and Mujeeb ur Rahman. Hampshire will announce their 2019 replacements in due course.
