Cricket: Warne Keeps Hampshire in the Hunt

Following one minute's silence, championship cricket returned to Southgate after its three-week holiday, having made way for the frolics of Twenty20. Shane Warne also returned from holiday, in Spain with his now estranged wife Simone, who heads home to Australia having only just moved to Southampton. Back on the pitch, however, he released any tension with a 33-ball 50.

Southgate can normally expect a buoyant crowd but the wintry conditions yesterday morning together with the closure of the Piccadilly Line, kept the numbers down. The Walker Ground usually offers a pitch to bat on, but when Hampshire subsided to 67 for four Warne must have questioned his decision.

The recovery was marshalled by John Crawley, 34 now but skeleton-thin, trying first with Nic Pothas and then Sean Ervine to nurse Hampshire into the game. Two of those first four wickets had seemed irresponsibly donated, when both Chris Benham and Craig McMillan tried flailing cuts at width balls. Michael Brown, was first to go while Greg Lamb could have been unlucky - he fell to a juggling catch by Owais Shah at first slip but when he gloved Scott Styris his hand seemed to have lost its grip on the bat handle.

Pothas, after much good work, gave left-arm spinner Chris Peploe the charge, thick-edging to cover, and then Crawley, moving beyond 50 with a pulled four off Peploe, tried to sweep the same bowler and ballooned a bat-pad catch.

Once Ervine had gone, hoisting to deep mid-on, Warne joined Dimitri Mascarenhas to lay on a delightful cabaret. Mascarenhas, returning after a chronic back prob lem, has a languid air at the crease, whereas Warne is all short-armed energy.

Warne hit his fourth ball, from the suffering Peploe, for a six backward off square and added a long-on four. They were well underway at tea but then found another gear. The first over after resumption, from Styris, was hit for 17 by Warne and there were a couple more fours when Styris returned. Warne's 50 came up with a big straight six off Peploe but in the same over Mascarenhas went one better, sending the ball high over the trees towards the adjacent church.

The sun was out now and the Hampshire pair celebrated, bringing up the 100 partnership in 75 balls. Immediately, however, Mascarenhas fashioned a cut at Styris and clipped to slip.