IT is hard to recall a more injury-plagued and tragic season for Hampshire Cricket than that just gone.

Hampshire will be glad to see the back of 2016 after the lofty ambitions of spring were stymied by one setback after another, culminating in relegation on the season’s final day.

The sun was shining at The Ageas Bowl but the six-wicket defeat at home to Durham made it a very Black Friday.

Even before the season began the signs were inauspicious, with Gareth Berg, last season’s Player of the Year, suffering a serious knee injury on the pre-season tour of Barbados.

More bad news soon followed on the opening day, when Reece Topley was ruled out for the season after breaking his hand while batting.

There was much optimism before the season began at the prospect of Topley opening the bowling with Fidel Edwards.

But Topley’s first ball for Hampshire will be in division two and within a fortnight of his setback Edwards was also ruled out for the season after breaking his ankle during a pre-play kickabout at Yorkshire.

It soon got worse.

Another bowler’s season was over in bizarre circumstances before the end of April when England U19 captain Brad Taylor ruptured ankle ligaments when his spikes were caught in the sponsors’ signage on an Ageas Bowl staircase.

Within a month seam bowler Chris Wood was also ruled out for the season, due to knee surgery.

But Hampshire’s season was yet to reach its lowest ebb.

On June 9, the club was shattered by the news that 20 year-old trialist Hamza Ali, a promising seam bowler who made his first-class debut in the opening game against Cardiff MCCU, had drowned near his Bristol home.

A month later, a poor season on the field was again put in sharp perspective when Michael Carberry was diagnosed with a cancerous tumour.

Serious, freakish injuries to so many bowlers was a big enough burden to contend with but Hampshire did well to keep their Championship season alive until the final day after the devastating double whammy of mid-summer.

Galvanised by Carberry’s news, broken to them on the eve of a T20 group game against Glamorgan, Hampshire responded with a rare win and they also beat Sussex by a single run 24 hours later.

But their T20 chances had already gone (three of their four wins came in the last four group games) and the limited-overs season was officially over by the beginning of August – the earliest that had been the case since 1968.

Hampshire’s failure to qualify for the Natwest T20 Blast quarter-finals was not that surprising given the team was in transition in the absence of Danny Briggs, Vince and Chris Wood – three key players since the first T20 triumph in 2010.

They were also playing under a new captain in Sean Ervine.

But the group exits in both the Blast and the Royal London One-Day Cup made this Hampshire’s worst white-ball season since 2002, when T20 was just a concept in the ECB’s marketing department.

There were still some memorable wins, included two white-ball derby successes against Sussex at Hove; by nine runs in the One Day Cup as well as the T20 thriller, when Brad Wheal came to the attention of a wider (televised) audience with some sensational death bowling.

The outground wins at Radlett CC and St Helens, Swansea, also stand in the memory. Liam Dawson’s unbeaten 68 from 40 balls secured victory against Middlesex, chasing a revised Duckworth-Lewis target, and Dawson was also to the fore, as captain, when he hit his maiden one-day century for Hampshire away to Glamorgan.

That was one of three occasions Hampshire hit a 300-plus one-day total, but two ended in defeats (Hampshire lost by ten runs to Gloucestershire despite amassing 342-8 batting second under lights at Bristol).

Overall Hampshire only won ten matches (their lowest total since 2002) and it was their least successful season on home turf since their move to the Ageas Bowl, where they only managed five wins across the formats.

The first of those was the solitary Championship home victory against Nottinghamshire way back in May either side of two defeats that had a huge bearing on the rest of the season.

Losing by an innings and 94 runs against a Lancashire side including England seamer James Anderson at Old Trafford at the beginning of May proved to be a crucial result in the context of the relegation scrap.

And after the first of the two wins against Notts came the worst result of the season at Merchant Taylor’s School, the innings and 116-run defeat to eventual champions Middlesex, which was compounded by a minus one return for a slow over rate.

Three of Hampshire’s four Championship defeats were by an innings (not since 1979 had they lost so many matches by such a margin) and the last of them was soon followed by the resignation of Dale Benkenstein, who returned to South Africa for family reasons at the end of July.

Hampshire enjoyed their best run of the season during the next five games, which yielded 62 of their 155 points, to keep alive hopes of a second Great Escape going into the last four days of the season.

There was no happy ending this time but, amid all the gloom, at least there is plenty of hope in the form of Tom Alsop, Lewis McManus, Mason Crane and Wheal, not to mention Brad Taylor, Joe Weatherley .

And don’t forget younger second team prospects like Jake Goodwin, Felix Organ, Tom Scriven and Ben Duggan.

Player ratings

Hampshire used the follopwng 27 players in all competition in 2016 - nine of whom made their debut for the county.

JIMMY ADAMS - 6
Reached fifty eight times in the County Championship - including scores of 86, 88, 99 and 96 in July and August - without converting one into a hundred. But big partnerships with Will Smith towards the end of the season (191 against Lancashire and 160 and 111 against Durham) kept alive hopes of a Great Escape. Also hit two One-Day Cup fifties, including 92 against Sussex at Hove.

WILL SMITH - 6
Did a good job as stand-in captain for half the County Championship season when James Vince was away, leading Hampshire to two wins against his former county Nottinghamshire and five draws from his nine matches in charge.
On a personal level, his best day of the season was his 210 in last month’s draw against Lancashire at The Ageas Bowl. Restricted to four T20 matches but was consistent in the One-Day Cup and held on to some of Hampshire’s best catches of the season.

TOM ALSOP - 7
This has been a breakthrough season for the 20 year-old, who was recently included in this winter’s England Lions squad, Earlier this month he scored his maiden Specsavers County Championship hundred, against Surrey at The Oval, when Hampshire needed his runs most. The left -hander had already scored his first senior hundred for Hampshire, a match-winning 116 - also against Surrey - in his third One-Day Cup appearance after fifties in his first 50-over games. 

JAMES VINCE - 5
His season will be remembered for his disappointing first seven Tests, against Sri Lanka and Pakistan (212 runs at 19.27). He also scored his maiden international fifty (51 in an ODI against Sri Lanka) but his season peaked with his excellent century against Yorkshire at Headingley in May. His extended run in the England side meant he was only available for half the Championship matches and six white-ball games. Looked in excellent touch against Durham in the final game, but it was not to be.

SEAN ERVINE - 8
Hampshire’s beneficiary has been the county’s stand-out batsman, his remarkable run of three centuries in five innings being a big factor in keeping hopes of Great Escape alive going into the final match of the season. Had never scored 1,000 first-class runs in a season before this year and would have scored many more than 1,050 had he not missed four games due to injury. Only Durham’s Keaton Jennings  and Middlesex’s Nick Gubbins were more consistent in the Championship, while Ryan McLaren was not far behind.

LIAM DAWSON - 8
His season’s highlight was taking 3-27 on his England debut at the Ageas Bowl as Sri Lanka were defeated in a T20 international. Was also outstanding as Hampshire’s top scorer in both white-ball competitions. He excelled in the Royal London One-day Cup with bat (359 runs at 71.8) and ball, bowling more overs than any Hampshire player while taking eight wickets with an economy rate of just 4.25. That helped earn him his place in England’s ODI squad for the forthcoming tour of Bangladesh. He also made 299 T20 runs at 29.9 and took 19 wickets – more than twice as many as any other Hampshire bowler.

RYAN MCLAREN - 9
A strong contender  to be Hampshire’s Player of the Year in the County Championship, the South African has been outstanding. 
Only Jimmy Adams and Sean Ervine scored more than his 832 runs (at an average of 55) and he was Hampshire’s top wicket-taker with 32. His all-round talent was never better illustrated than in the two games against Surrey; he made one of his six fifties at No4 when James Vince and Liam Dawson were away with England and then scored his maiden County Championship century at The Oval in the penultimate match of the season. Was restricted to seven white-ball games by Darren Sammy and Shahid Afridi but will surely be offered a new deal for next year.

LEWIS MCMANUS - 7
Has established himself as Hampshire’s No 1 gloveman with some very tidy work behind the stumps, which has included some very smart stumpings. But it is his batting that has really cemented his place.  
His unbeaten 132 against Surrey in the Championship was a coming of age moment and he also impressed with a 35-ball 41 at the top of the order against the same county in the Natwest T20 Blast.

GARETH BERG - 6
Injured for the first half of the season after but last season’s Player of the Year made a big difference to the balance of the team when he returned in June, following knee surgery. 
Took a career-best 6-56 against Yorkshire earlier this month and was Hampshire’s leading wicket-taker in the One-Day Cup. His 11 wickets at 27 apiece in the 50-over competition included match-winning four-fors against Surrey and Glamorgan.

GARETH ANDREW - 5 
Has proved to be a handy signing since joining on a match-by-match basis in May, when Hampshire’s injury crisis was at its peak. Had been playing club cricket for Ombersley in the Birmingham & District Premier League when he got the call from director of cricket Giles White. 
Was particularly useful in the One-Day Cup. The 32 year-old’s 152 runs at 30.4 included an eye-catching  70 not out, from just 41 balls, against Gloucestershire at Bristol, albeit in a losing cause. Also took seven 50-over wickets.

BRAD WHEAL - 7
A breakthrough season for the South African fast bowler. His brilliant last over in the televised T20 win against Sussex showed what he was capable of but he has also been a match-winner in the Championship. His 20 Championship wickets included 6-51 against Notts at Trent Bridge and 4-39 in the final against Durham when Hampshire needed him most. A great legacy left by Dale Benkenstein, who spotted him playing for Natal U19s in December 2014.

MASON CRANE - 6
The leg-spinner’s second season has been hard going. But that is often the way with young players, especially leg-spinners, and there was still much to be encouraged by. Only Ryan McLaren took more than his 31 Championship wickets. Hardly used in the T20 Blast but only Gareth Berg bowled more overs in the One-Day Cup. Will spend his winter learning from former Australia leg-spinner Stuart MacGill in Sydney.

JAMES TOMLINSON 6
The  minus-one-point defeat at Merchant Taylor’s was not the end to his Hampshire career that Tommo deserved. But Hampshire were glad to be able to call on the veteran left-armer for the first six matches of the season in the wake of the injuries to Fidel Edwards and Reece Topley. He took a respectable 14 wickets at 34.5, enough to top Hampshire’s bowling averages at the season’s end, before suggesting to the coaching staff that it was time he focused on his post-playing career.

ADAM WHEATER 5
Returned to Essex when he was Hampshire’s leading run scorer, when his second county needed him most. Hugely frustrated at being replaced as wicketkeeper by Lewis McManus, he excelled as a specialist batsman (802 runs at 47) before Hampshire agreed not to keep an unhappy player. Wheater was not fully accepted by the Hampshire members, even after four seasons at The Ageas Bowl, as his arrival in 2013 led to the end of homegrown Michael Bates’ career. 

TINO BEST 4
It was hoped the former West Indies fast bowler would have a similar impact to Fidel Edwards  and at his best the Barbadian was unplayable. But he could not be relied upon and was a liability at times. If he had bowled as consistently well as he did against Lancashire (5-90) and Notts (6-91) in May, Hampshire would have had a much more stress-free end to the season. But he did not play after conceding 104 in 19 wicketless overs away to Durham at the beginning of July.

DARREN SAMMY 5
One of Hampshire’s big-name signings for the Natwest T20 Blast, but the competition proved to be an anti-climax in his first competition after he leading West Indies to the World T20 title. Too much of a bits and pieces player for such a big name signing. 

SHAHID AFRIDI 6
Was Hampshire’s most economical bowler in the Natwest T20 Blast, in which he took nine wickets at 30 apiece while conceding only 6.2 an over. That is the best economy rate of anyone bowling more than 40 overs in this season’s T20 Blast. Also hit more sixes than any Hampshire batsman (nine) and his 191 runs at 17 came at a better strike rate (160) than any of his teammates. But even Afridi’s presence could not help Hampshire to another T20 Finals Day, which he desperately wanted after the disappointment of 2011.

MICHAEL CARBERRY 6
The worst day of the season was July 14th, when Carbs broke the news of his cancerous tumour to his teammates before the T20 win against Glamorgan at The Ageas Bowl. Encouragingly the former England batsman has made good progress since.

The following members of the Hampshire squad only played a handful of games...

FIDEL EDWARDS 
For those who were there, the farcical scenes at Headingley in May, when the West Indian broke his ankle during a pre-match game of football, epitomised Hampshire’s season. Hampshire  were always going to struggle without him. A bowling average of 82.3 from his one and a half games was a real comedown from last season’s heroics.

JOE WEATHERLEY
Made his senior debut in all forms, and registered s 83 on his first-class debut against Cardiff in April. Was dismissed for single figure scores against Middlesex in the ignominious defeat in May but showed that he has more than just first-class potential when he made a 28-ball 43 against Glamorgan.

ANDY CARTER
Proved a decent signing for his match-winning 5-76 against his former Notts teammates alone. But that was one of only two games played by the 27 year-old, who announced his retirement on the final day of the season.

DAVID WAINWRIGHT
Drafted in for one game against Somerset at Taunton, but he could not replicate the success of fellow slow left-armers Jack Leach and Roland van der Merwe and left when Liam Dawson returned from England duty.

REECE TOPLEY 
His season could not have gone any worse after his  move from Essex this time last year. Yet to bowl a ball for Hampshire after being ruled out for the season when his left hand was broken in the first match.

CHRIS WOOD
The all-rounder was ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury after playing in the first three matches.

GAVIN GRIFFITHS
Impressed when he joined on loan from Lancashire for two months before joining Leicestershire. Played four T20 games, the highlight of which was his 3-33 in the win at Hove. 

JAKE GOODWIN
A Hampshire academy product who, like James Vince and Liam Dawson, was developed by Wiltshire coach Alan Crouch. Has impressed for the Second XI this season and made 32 after being rewarded with a first-team debut in the T20 win against Somerset in July.

RYAN STEVENSON
Played an important role in last season’s Great Escape after being plucked from minor counties cricket with Devon but was restricted to four white-ball games this year by a back injury.

First published in last week's Sports Pink