Hampton delighted with Buckinghamshire's start

Buckinghamshire may have emerged as the surprise package of this season’s Durant Cricket National Counties Championship but their success is not entirely unexpected.

Having won all four of their matches in Eastern Division Two last year to secure promotion, Buckinghamshire have beaten Norfolk and Staffordshire in their first two Division One matches this season and they head to Chesham for the visit of Lincolnshire on Sunday aiming to maintain their unbeaten run.

Continuity has been a key for Buckinghamshire as they have kept faith with the same, mostly homegrown, squad which has developed a strong team ethic in which the whole has proved stronger than the individual parts.

“We have slightly surprised ourselves but we were always quietly confident after the way we have played in red ball cricket over the last couple of seasons. It was the tournament that we felt that we had our best chance in,” said Buckinghamshire captain Tom Hampton.

“In some ways having a side that was largely unchanged has been a big part of our success. Apart from players having to miss the odd game here and there we have not had to change the side that much.

“When you are not having to make those changes people feel that they are under less pressure.”

Buckinghamshire have seen little of Saif Zaib, a product of the county’s youth system, this season because he has become an established member of Northamptonshire’s side across all formats.

But Buckinghamshire have compensated for Zaib’s absence with significant all-round contributions from Alex Woodland, and former Worcestershire and Netherlands batter Alexei Kervezee plus 19 wickets in two Championship matches from slow left-armer Conner Haddow.

“The luxury of having AJ [Woodland] at the top of the order and being a quality seamer means that we can go into games with an extra bowler,” Hampton said.

“So, we go into games feeling that we have most bases covered and that we have a bowling attack that can take 20 wickets or set up a run chase for our batters.

“Alexei is the ultimate professional in the way he goes about his business. He might be the oldest player in the side but he is still the fittest.

“When he came in from Shropshire two years ago he raised the standards and the attitudes of the whole squad. He sets high standards and having a player like that gives everyone else so much confidence.

“Alexei also brought Ed Bragg with him last season. Ed had been released from Worcestershire’s Academy and Alexei knows him well as they play club cricket together at Halesowen.

“He and Alexei are our only players from outside the county. Ed is similar to AJ in that he is a genuine all-rounder which, again, gives us the luxury of an extra bowling option.

“Conner has stepped up this year. He’s maturing into that main spinner role for us and he’s taken 19 wickets in four innings so far as well as giving us control when we have needed it.”

Hampton’s own contribution should not be under-estimated either. He brings important first-class experience from his stints with Middlesex and Gloucestershire, he has formed an effective management team with coach Jason Harrison over the last five years and, at 31, is still capable bowling sharp spells.

“The luxury of having an extra seamer is that my work-load is less than it was three or four years ago ago which means that I can bowl some shorter but fast spells,” he said.

How much bowling Hampton will be required to do against Lincolnshire remains to be seen. Last season spinners prospered at Chesham in a dry summer with Cumbria’s Matt Siddall taking a county record 14 wickets in the match although he still finished on the losing side.

A first innings century from Woodland, five wicket hauls for Bragg and Cameron Parsons and solid contributions down the order typified Buckinghamshire’s team ethic in that match and gave a hint of the cricket they would play this season.

“Maybe we have been lucky with the weather and we have also won two tosses. But perhaps the fact that we have enjoyed success in three-day cricket has given us momentum,” Hampton said.

“Ultimately three-day cricket is about performing consistently over three days, whether that’s against Staffordshire or Hertfordshire.

“That’s what we have tried to do over the last couple of seasons. It’s quite simple in some ways but is working.

“It’s the same as last season. It’s not been flashy but having important contributions from the whole squad has been very pleasing.”

Durant Cricket National Counties Championship

Sunday August 6-Tuesday August 8 (11am)

Eastern Division One

Chesham: Buckinghamshire v Lincolnshire, Horsford: Norfolk v Staffordshire.

Western Division One

Finchampstead: Berkshire v Cheshire, Exeter: Devon v Oxfordshire.

Eastern Division Two

Saffron Walden: Cambridgeshire v Bedfordshire, Jesmond: Northumberland v Hertfordshire.

Western Division Two

St Austell: Cornwall v Wiltshire, Wimborne: Dorset v Shropshire.