Hampshire CCC plan to break with tradition once again

Hampshire CCC plan to break with tradition once again - by wearing football-style shirts in the County Championship this summer.

Chairman Rod Bransgrove unveiled the plans at yesterday's historic Annual General Meeting - the first AGM since the club was transformed from a members' club into a limited company.

Then he told the 300-strong attendance of plans to ensure that Robin Smith's men wear names and numbers on their backs in Hampshire's first season back in Division One of the CricInfo County Championship.

Last summer, Lancashire CCC took the unprecedented step of sticking names and squad numbers on their championship shirts as well as their one day tops.

And Bransgrove believes that that is the way forward as Hampshire prepare for their second season at the Rose Bowl, which will have a capacity of 10,000 as well as a new pavilion this summer.

He said: "The feedback suggests it's difficult to see who's fielding the ball or who's taking catches without the aid of names or numbers, so I think it will be to the benefit of the game as a whole and certainly to the benefit of the spectators.

"It will be our intention to have names and numbers on the shirts as long as we can do it in a costeffective manner."

The ECB are more than happy for other first class counties to adopt the shirts in the four day game.

And Lancashire chief executive Jim Cumbes has confirmed that the venture was a success at Old Trafford last year.

"We received a very positive reaction when we pioneered the idea with fleece style shirts," he said. "Apparently we had numbers pinned to players' shirts for one season in the 1950s which was very popular with fans. It's strange that it's taken more than 40 years to come back."

Vic Isaacs, Hampshire's scorer for 28 years, added: "It would certainly make my job easier.

"Recognising players has always been a problem since helmets came in and numbered shirts improved the game from the spectators' point of view in the Sunday League."