Hampshire Academy v Calmore Sports - Match Report

A convincing win over bottom of the table Calmore was achieved by the youngest Hampshire Academy team yet; featuring eight teenagers and no-one over 22 years of age.

The young Hawks got back to winning ways at the toss and stand-in captain Ian Hilsum had no hesitation in batting first on a perfect summer's day at the Rose Bowl.

Solid batting by Chris Benham (115 balls, 14 fours) and latterly 17-year-old Kevin Latouf (100 balls, 3 fours), fresh from a successful debut with the 2nd XI, took the Academy to 140-3 at lunch; achieving a solid platform from which to build afterwards.

Hilsum declared, when realizing that the final batting bonus point was out of reach, when the Academy stood on 239-8 in 59.5 overs. Calmore's bowlers stuck to their task in the searing heat; the pick being Mark Boston, who returned figures of 5-88 off 23 consecutive overs.

In a reversal of fortune, former Calmore player Matthew Metcalfe (3-21) achieved the early break-throughs for the Academy, as the relatively out-of-sorts David Griffiths went wicket-less in his first spell - a rarity this season.

Metcalfe was well supported by yet another 17-year-old in James Manning (2-17), and skipper Ian Hilsum (8-4-13-4) helped clean up the middle order and tail in typical leg-break fashion.

No Calmore batsman passed 20 as the Totton-based side were bowled out in 32.1 overs to lose heavily by 138 runs; just a few minutes after Radio Solent (presented by ex-Hampshire stalwart Kevan James), who made this fixture their featured match of the day, went off air at six o'clock.