April 12-15, Utilita Bowl, Southampton
Hampshire 367 (Dawson 86, Prest 85, Lyon 3-110, Bailey 2-60, Williams 2-49, Wells 2-31)
Lancashire 208-2 (Wells 55, Jennings 71*)
Toss: Hampshire, who elected to bat. Officials: Mike Burns, Russell Warren, Steve Davis
It was pretty cool facing Lyon.
TOM PREST suggested 2024 will be his breakthrough season by scoring an impeccable 85 as Hampshire edged day one of their clash with Lancashire.
The former England under-19 captain hinted at his first-class talents with his maiden ton towards the end of last season and opened his account this year with a high-quality knock.
He was one of four half-century makers for the hosts – with Nick Gubbins, James Vince and Liam Dawson also reaching the milestone as Hampshire totted up 305 for six in front of their highest first-day-ofthe-season crowd for over a decade.
Nathan Lyon picked up his first two wickets for Lancashire during a mammoth 32-over day which yielded two for 97.
Skipper Vince won the toss and chose to bat first, giving debutant Ali Orr an immediate chance to impress the Hampshire supporters after his winter move from Sussex.
His collaboration with new opening partner Fletcha Middleton may need some work after the latter was run out in the ninth over by a George Balderson direct hit after a miscommunication.
Orr departed four overs later when Tom Bailey cut him in two with a wicked in-jagger to be caught behind, but from there, Hampshire found more fluency and built partnerships in overcast conditions.
Vince had come off a winter of seemingly endless white ball cricket, taking him from Abu Dhabi to Australia, Dubai to Pakistan.
He ended last season’s Championship campaign – one where he become Hampshire’s first batter to 1,000 first-class runs since 2016 – with 56 and began the new campaign in identical style.
It was a look down and you missed it half-century, coming up in 62 balls but with hardly a shot in anger. It obviously included a cover drive but otherwise kept the ball on a string to ease his side from danger in an 84-run stand with Gubbins, taking the score away from a worrying 26 for two.
Gubbins, who had scored twin centuries on Lancashire’s previous trip to Utilita Bowl, unfurled his typically aesthetic yet steady knock to provide the foil for Vince before helping Prest lay the foundations for his innings.
Australian spinner Lyon had been due to play for Hampshire in 2020 before Covid prevented him from arriving. His maiden firstc
