The Rose Bowl again seeks Test-match status

A report in today's Times newspaper says that Hampshire are proposing to re-apply to the ECB for Test status for The Rose Bowl.

Earlier this year, Hampshire missed out when the ECB announced the venues for the 2009 Ashes series, and Rod Bransgrove, the county's high-profile chairman, made clear his anger at the decision.

"The ECB has recognised a significant improvement in our pitches and I am hoping now to gain Test match status in order to qualify for an allocation for the 2010 season," Bransgrove told The Times. "But I cannot go on spending like this without the support of more international cricket.

"I still believe the process for allocation and accreditation for international cricket is fundamentally flawed and unfair. I am confident, however, that David Morgan [ECB chairman] will put this matter right."

The report adds that Bransgrove is also consulting his lawyers over the original decision.

Since Hampshire moved to The Rose Bowl in 2001, there have been issues regarding the quality of the pitches, although Bransgrove insists there have now been resolved. There have also been major complaints over the seeming inability of the ground to cope with large crowds, and this is possibly more of an issue.