Catching the Hampshire spirit

Hampshire President and captain of the 1961 Championship Winning side, selects his All Time team. (Published in April 2003 Wisden Cricket Monthly and reproduced by kind permission of the editor)...

Wisden Cricket Monthly

BUT FOR my own modesty I would pick the whole 1961 County Championship winning side, the first Hampshire team to win the Championship - winning 19 matches out of 32 with six drawn. I have not allowed myself complete freedom to include any player who has represented the county. I have left out CB Fry, due to his stronger Sussex connections, as well as Shane Warne, whom I would have loved to include, and David Gower.

There are two ways of approaching the captain, both controversial. The Australians pick the best 11 players and then choose a captain from among them. Hampshire have always picked the best captain. There were many candidates: Lionel Tennyson, Edward Sprot, Dicky Moore, Desmond Eagar and Richard Gilliat to name but a few. But I have chosen Mark Nicholas without hesitation. He had all the qualities, with bat and even ball; he inspired a great team spirit; and he was full of enthusiasm, as well as always looking the part.

The wicketkeeper sets a poser. I never played with George Brown, a remarkable allround cricketer, as was Walter Livsey. I played once with Neil McCorkell, in my first match, against Sussex in 1951, which was rained off and I made nought. I played many times with Leo Harrison, who was in charge when we won the Championship. Harrison was a brilliant fielder turned keeper and a very useful batsman. He is a close friend, so I cannot be accused of favouritism if I select Brown.

Although Hampshire have played their home matches on good wickets at Southampton and Portsmouth, it was the seamers who generally bowled the opposition out. Hampshire have never been famous for their spinners, more for their seam partnerships like Kennedy and Newman or Shackleton and Vic Cannings. Jack Newman must be included and he was also handy with the bat, scoring almost 14,000 runs. Alec Kennedy was also a fine batsman; he scored nearly 15,000 runs and has to be in. In our Championship year Malcolm Heath played a great part, especially at Portsmouth with his prodigious height, and Butch White was superb throughout the year but Malcolm Marshall would have to be included in any side. I also have to choose Derek Shackleton as he was the finest opening bowler in Hampshire's history. For sheer consistency, stamina and accuracy he was superb. I would dive under a bus for him. Andy Roberts only just misses out.

Of the spinners Charlie Knott was a beautiful flighter of the ball but did not play as many matches as others because of World War II. I played with Peter Sainsbury throughout his career and he was a wonderful team man. Although not a big spinner of the ball he took many wickets on good pitches with his variation of pace and flight. He was also a gutsy batsman and a world-class fielder at short-leg. He just edges out Charles Llewellyn, a fine South African allrounder. Hampshire has always been a romantic county and this is partly due to their attractive batsmen. Names like Tennyson's conjure up thrilling afternoons in the sun but sadly there is such fierce competition that he does not make my team. The first three in the batting order pick themselves: Gordon Greenidge, Barry Richards and Phil Mead.

Mead made his debut in 1905 against the touring Australians and had a career record of almost 49,000 runs. It is always useful to have a left-hander up the order and it would be hard to separate Greenidge and Richards, probably the two finest openers in the world. Having played with Roy Marshall throughout my career there was no more exciting batsman, but I have already filled my quota of three overseas players, so Robin Smith comes in at No. 4, edging out his brother Chris by a whisker.

Hampshire have always been brilliant in securing foreign imports and they have not only played wonderfully well but have fitted into the Hampshire culture. My side is a fine fielding side - and will have a great team spirit. Choosing it has been a great experience and I trust there are no hard feelings. The players whom I played with have given me the experience of a lifetime. I know this team would do the same.

Colin Ingleby-Mackenzie's All-time Hampshire XI

M     Runs    Avge:    100s  Wkts    Avge:    5w
1  Barry Richards (1968-78)         204    15607    50.50     38     46    36.41     -
2  Gordon Greenidge (1970-87)       275    19840    45.40     48     16    24.18     1
3  Phil Mead (1905-36)              700    48892    48.84    138    266    34.78     5
4  Robin Smith (1982-2002)          297    18462    42.25     49     14    66.57     -
5  George Brown (wk, 1908-33)       539    22962    26.88     37    477 ct, 53 st
6  Mark Nicholas (capt, 1978-95)    361    17401    33.98     34     72    45.06     2
7  Peter Sainsbury (1954-76)        593    19576    27.03      7   1245    24.14    35
8  Jack Newman (1906-30)            506    13904    20.90      7   1946    24.83   128
9  Alec Kennedy (1907-36)           596    14925    18.51     10   2549    21.16   205
10 Malcolm Marshall (1979-93)       210     5847    25.20      5    826    18.64    45
11 Derek Shackleton (1948-69)       583     8602    14.43      -   2669    18.23   190

(Statistics relate to first-class matches played for Hampshire only)