Read stresses work in progress

Chris Read played with freedom for his 47 but by then the game was up

Nottinghamshire captain Chris Read conceded his team were not yet the finished article after flunking another chance for silverware.

The incumbent leaders ran out of steam in the final throes of the LV County Championship, losing by 203 runs to Hampshire at Trent Bridge to be pipped to the Division One title by Durham.

Read’s men entered the contest with an eight-point advantage over the chasing pack but folded at the last, just as they did in the NatWest Pro40 showdown against Sussex.

“We had a big chance in two trophies and we didn’t take them,” said Read. “Championships and one-day trophies don’t come along very often. I don’t think we are the finished article.”

Nottinghamshire eventually finished as runners-up with in-form Hampshire a place below them.

After dismissing the visitors for 203, Notts were 172 for three before the slump set in.

“We should have been looking at scoring 350 to 400-plus,” said Read. “We were in a reasonable position to do that and then it all fell apart.”

With just an eight-run lead on first innings, Nottinghamshire’s attack ran out of energy allowing their opponents to pile up 449 for five declared.

It has been the bowling group who had kept the title hopes alive during a wet season.

“The seam bowling attack has stayed free of injury and has been the best I have seen at Trent Bridge in my 11 seasons,” said Read.

Read paid tribute to his excellent fast bowling group, led by newcomer Darren Pattinson (centre)

“Conversely, when we last won the championship in 2005 we batted a whole lot better. That’s the sort of thing we need to get back to. But three of the top five were different and we are a side developing.”

England one-day player Samit Patel cracked his second half-century of the contest, arriving at the crease after Notts learned of Durham’s crushing win over Kent which made a victory of their own a necessity.

“In a way it was quite enjoyable to be able to play with complete and utter freedom,” added Read, who finished unbeaten on 47. “We genuinely believed that we had an outside chance of making those runs.”

Hampshire’s latest success made it four wins and three draws since the arrival of Imran Tahir as overseas player.

Fittingly, the Pakistani leg-spinner dismantled the tail for the second time in the contest to double his match haul to eight and take his Division One tally to 44.

Having waited for 18-year-old Liam Dawson to complete a maiden first-class hundred, Hampshire set a 442-run target in a minimum of 76 overs but had things wrapped things up by 3.57pm.

“It was a brilliant effort,” captain Dimitri Mascarenhas said. “We were staring at relegation so to get up to third is tremendous.

“The way we have played our cricket all year has been to win and it was no different here. Circumstances allowed us to bat a little bit longer because they had to chase.”