Smith stars in Testimonial game

Robin Smith held centre stage in his Testimonial match at Eversley on Friday as he hit a vintage half century to entertain the large crowd.

The former England Test batsman arrived at the wicket with his side in trouble at 38 for 3, and when Eversley's South African pace man Louis Piso struck again to dismiss Shaun Udal for a duck, Hampshire were on the back foot at 51 for 4. Piso had already taken the wickets of Dimitri Mascarenhas and Alan Mullally, giving him three victims in the space of 14 balls.

Smith found an ally in Will Kendall as the pair staged a rally with 135 for the fifth wicket in 58 minutes. Smith hammered ten fours and a six off 64 balls before holing out for 66, while Kendall stroked 12 fours and three sixes as he top-scored with 78 from 51 balls.

Paul Terry made a cameo and 27 before falling to a one-handed diving slip catch by Jez Ackroyd, one of several brilliant examples of Eversley's fielding which was a feature of the afternoon. It helped to dismiss Hampshire inside their allotted 40 overs for 253.

Eversley made a sound start to their innings as Martin David (59) and Andy South (29) put on 71 for the first wicket, and then skipper Andrew O'Kelly (44) shared a partnership of 73 with David for the second wicket.

Eversley were well placed at 144 for 2, but the middle order batsmen failed to capitalize, especially against the slow bowling of former Saints footballer Mark Dennis, who took 2 for 29 off six overs.

Eversley finally needed a formidable 27 off the final over, bowled by Robin Smith. Although he was hit for a six, he retaliated with two wickets to seal his place as the star of the game.

Robin was presented with a cheque for £3,500 by Eversley chairman John Hartle, who said that with proceeds from an auction, a raffle and a collection on the ground that raised more than £600 from the appreciative crowd, his total haul on the day topped £10,000.

Andrew Renshaw, chairman of the match organizers, said: "The brilliant weather and top-class cricket from both sides in front of the largest crowd at Eversley for years, all combined to make it a memorable day, and we were delighted with the result for Robin."

Eversley CC v Robin Smith's Hampshire XI

Result: Hampshire won by 16 runs

Hampshire James Hamblin c Ackroyd b Parkin 17 Dimitri Mascarenhas c Carey b Piso 6 Alan Mullally b Piso 0 Shaun Udal b Piso 0 Robin Smith c Niemandt b Ackroyd 66 Will Kendall c Parkin b Ackroyd 78 Mark Dennis c Burgess b Kaminski 1 Paul Terry c Ackroyd b O'Kelly 27 Patrick Farhart c Carey b Ackroyd 12 Nic Pothas c Burgess b O'Kelly 3 Simon Katich not out 14 Extras 19 Total (all out, 37.1 overs) 253

Eversley bowling: Piso 3-36, Ackroyd 3-30, O'Kelly 2-23

Eversley Martin David c Hamblin b Kendall 59 Andy South b Mullally 29 Andrew O'Kelly lbw b Kendall 44 David Newth lbw b Pothas 7 Romek Kaminski c Terry b Dennis 5 Jeremy Ackroyd c Pothas b Smith 29 Simon Carey c Mascarenhas b Dennis 11 Louis Piso b Smith 25 W Niemandt not out 0 Patrick Parkin not out 1 Extras 26 Total (for 8 wkts, 40 overs) 237

Hampshire bowling: Kendall 2-10, Dennis 2-29, Smith 2-7