Hampshire in firm control

John Crawley © Getty Images

Hampshire got straight back on the Liverpool Victoria County Championship title trail after their Twenty20 woes as gritty centuries from James Adams and John Crawley left the visitors firmly in charge after the first day.

Defending champions Notts were made to toil in the field in conditions tailor-made for batting, although neither Adams nor Crawley dominated the bowling attack, and showed plenty of concentration and patience.

Adams brought up his second hundred of the season off 255 balls with 13 fours, while Crawley was slightly quicker to three figures, hitting 15 fours from 173 balls.

Their second wicket stand was worth 192 at the close, as Adams finished unbeaten on 123 and Crawley 106 not out, with Hampshire on 303-1.

Nottinghamshire’s last match had seen almost 8,000 people come to Trent Bridge for the final Twenty20 Cup group match against Derbyshire.

But with play as far removed from the thrills and spills of that competition as possible, home fans were left to rue what might have been had Hampshire opener Michael Carberry been caught inside the first five overs of the day.

The left-hander offered two chances in nine balls off the bowling of Ryan Sidebottom, who produced an excellent first spell without reward.

Twice Carberry edged into the slips, only to see the first fly between a static David Hussey and Mark Ealham at second and third slip, and was then dropped by Jason Gallian at first.

Sidebottom also forced both Carberry and Adams to play and miss on several occasions in his opening seven overs, but that was pretty much as good as it got for the hosts.

The opening pair limited themselves to pushing into gaps for singles, coupled with the occasional drive, as they progressed to 96 without loss at lunch.

Left-arm seamer Sidebottom finally got his man nine overs after the break, when Carberry edged to the safe hands of wicket-keeper Chris Read one short of his half-century.

But that only brought Crawley to the wicket, and the former England batsman set about his work with a determination that suggested he was in the mood to score the third triple hundred of his career against Notts.

He combined a watchful defence with drives, cuts and pulls of authority and was only troubled by the return of Sidebottom with the new ball in the late afternoon.