Hampshire dodge relegation nightmare despite Surrey defeat

Hampshire were given an unlikely reprieve from relegation to Rothesay County Championship Division Two after Durham fell apart at Yorkshire.

The south-coast county were resigned to the drop after losing to Surrey by 20 runs, which left Durham only requiring a draw at Headingley. But they sensationally slumped to 85 all out to allow Hampshire to stay in Division One for the 2026 season.

Ironically, Hampshire's last brush with the drop, in 2016, saw them finish in the relegation places but be reinstated after Durham were sent down over financial issues.

Surrey only needed one wicket on the final day, which Rahul Chahar managed with the 42nd delivery of the day when he had James Fuller caught behind. In doing so, the India spinner claimed a career-best 8 for 51 - Surrey's third best bowling figures of the 21st century - and ten wickets in the match.

The defeat, with relegation seemingly nailed on, looked like it would compound Hampshire's horror September. The county had been deducted eight points in the Championship for breaching the ECB's pitch regulations, before losing in two men's finals and a women's final.

They also saw popular head coach Adi Birrell announce he would leave the club after seven years at the helm. The South African was gifted a bull for his farm back in his homeland by the players on the final morning of the Surrey match.

Instead of Hampshire, Durham will now join Worcestershire in playing in Division Two next season.

Ben Brown, who took over the four-day captaincy at short notice after James Vince stepped away from red-ball cricket before the start of the season, said it had been "a really challenging year", topped off by the Cricket Discipline Panel's decision to dock points for a poor Utilita Bowl pitch in May - described by Brown as "unjust".

"It has been a really challenging year, off the field as well as on it," Brown said. "There has been a lot to manage.

"Then there is the points deduction on the wicket, which I stand by that it was unjust. That I feel difficult to cope with as a player. People work hard in professional sport and to have essentially clipboard stuff take eight points off us... You want sport to be decided as sport not someone deciding whether grass is right or wrong.

"We have been playing under pressure for the last month with no time to think or train, and it has ended up with us losing two finals and looks like we will be going down. Everyone will need time to get their head around it before making a plan to make things better."

Requiring 33 runs to beat Surrey, 32 runs - ie. a tie - would likely have been enough to see Hampshire them remain in Division One on their own steam.

Fuller and Brad Wheal were the only Hampshire batters left - the former had shaken off the collapse and dealt with Chahar carefully for 29, while Wheal had stoically blocked 22 balls before bad light brought an unsatisfactory end to the third day, and left plenty with a sleepless night.

Chahar bowled the first over of the day and Fuller almost edged the first ball. A swept four eased the nerves, before Wheal nicked his first delivery to first slip - but it narrowly fell short.

Fuller and Wheal looked at ease, albeit turning down a bounty of singles, until Fuller attempted to cut Chahar and edged behind to Ben Foakes.

Only Kemar Roach's 8 for 40, and Martin Bicknell's 9 for 45 were better since the turn of the Millennium. Chahar, on Championship debut, also took ten wickets in the match.

"A lot of the disappointment was last night and then today there was just a small chance in a tough situation for Fuller. It was more runs than it looked and was a tall order today," Brown said. "We should have made a better fist of it. The new hard ball spun quite a lot and we didn't deal with it. We were a lot of pressure in the run chase and we couldn't stem the tide of wickets in the middle of the innings."