IT'S been a busy week for everyone at the ground - with pre-season friendlies taking place every day, writes Jimmy Adams in this week's Hampshire Chronicle.
Adams writes: Players and, probably even more so, ground staff have had their work cut out to get themselves ready for the LV County Championship match against Sussex which started at The Rose Bowl on Wednesday.
To be honest we struggled in our pre-season games - losing the two-day game to Northamptonshire and also two one-day games to Gloucestershire.
Our final practice match against Cardiff UCCE was not ideal either as we lost a significant amount of time to the weather when we were hoping to get some good mileage in our legs.
Chris Benham showed good early signs with a half century against Northants, Michael Brown made a superb 99 in bowler-friendly conditions in the first one-dayer and I managed to chip in with a few myself but unfortunately a number of our batters were unable to get any really valuable time in the middle.
It's been tough for the bowlers too. The heavy ground makes bowling longer spells hard yet the guys need to get overs under their belts to obtain the necessary bowling fitness to see them through a whole day in the field - Billy Taylor has been his usual reliable self and Dave Griffiths again showed his ability as a genuine wicket-taker.
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Talking of strike bowlers, we have been boosted by the arrival of one of the world's best - Shane Bond has already shown us he will be a fantastic asset in his few days with us.
Read the rest of Jimmy Adams's views in this week's Hampshire Chronicle, out on Thursday.
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