Hampshire 2026 County Championship Full Season Preview
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
by Ronan Alexander & The Cricket Draft
With the cricket season fast approaching, now is the time to ensure you and your club are covered! Don’t risk the season with under insurance & outdated valuations; contact ASI, the specialist sports broker and PCA partner, to get your club or your own policy sorted before the first ball is bowled.
County Championship Values for 2026
Banker/Wildcard/Young Gun/England Pick
Banker: Kyle Abbott (BWL) £8.1m
The most popular player last season, featuring in 40.3% of squads, Abbott remains a true banker heading into 2026. He grabbed 56 wickets and offered significant value with the bat despite being listed as a bowler. He hit 10 sixes and one half-century on his way to 296 runs at an average of 18.5. He looks like the pick of the seamers ahead of the summer; partnered by Jayden Seales, the two could provide a lethal threat together.
Wildcard: James Fuller (ALR) £7.0m
Fuller claimed 35 wickets last summer, a tally bettered only by Kyle Abbott in a Hampshire shirt. Averaging 121.18 points per game in 2025, Fuller offers value with both bat and ball, having recorded a half-century and seven sixes to showcase his all-round capabilities. He was selected by just 0.4% of squads last year; with a full summer of the Dukes ball ahead, he may see even more overs and point-scoring opportunities in seamer-friendly conditions.
Young Gun: Manny Lumsden (BWL) £4.3m
A 17-year-old right-arm quick with genuine pace, Lumsden caught the eye in the One-Day Cup last year. He grabbed six wickets in three matches for Hampshire but is yet to make his first-class debut. He was also a key part of the England Under-19 side that finished as runners-up in the Under-19 World Cup, ending the tournament as the leading wicket-taker with 16 wickets at an average of 16.06.
England Watch: Liam Dawson (ALR) £8.9m
After several years carrying the drinks for England, Dawson has broken into the starting XI during the T20 World Cup. With Shoaib Bashir not featuring in the Ashes, the spinner’s position is up for debate, and Dawson’s name is always in the conversation. A highly sought-after player in The Cricket Draft, he was the fourth most popular pick last summer; expect him to be in plenty of squads again this year due to his high match involvement, heavy workload, and top-six batting position.
Potential Starting XI for GW 1
2025 Review
It was a disappointing year for Hampshire in 2025, surviving the drop by just a single point. While they were hard to beat, recording nine draws (the joint-most in the division), they managed only two victories all summer. Kyle Abbott enjoyed a fantastic campaign that ultimately kept them up, and adding Michael Neser to the attack looks like an excellent piece of business.
However, it was the batting that proved their biggest issue. Their top run-scorer, Ben Brown, finished with 758 runs, which was considerably lower than the leading scorers at most other clubs. While the addition of Jake Lehmann should provide a boost, the team will be hoping for a few more runs from the likes of Liam Dawson, Fletcha Middleton, Nick Gubbins, Toby Albert, and Tom Prest to help the climb the table. With several of these players being young talents who are now a year more experienced, the club will be hopeful of a marked improvement in their returns this time around.
2025 Stat Attack
Kyle Abbott was the second top wicket taker with 56 to his name last summer. His 178.50 points per game was the fifth highest for any bowler to play four or more games. He also had the 8th most runs for a bowler in 2025. Kyle Abbott was the most popular player last summer, with Liam Dawson in the 4th most squads.
Sonny Baker had for bowlers valued £5.5m or less, the fifth most wickets with 19.
James Fuller had the ninth most wickets for an all-rounder.
Ben Brown had the sixth most runs for a wicketkeeper and seventh most catches.
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Player Ins & Outs
Unsurprisingly, Kyle Abbott returns following another excellent summer in a Hampshire shirt. Michael Neser has now been withdrawn by Cricket Australia and we await news on his replacment. Fellow Australian Jake Lehmann also joins the club, qualifying as a domestic player via a UK passport after a strong run of form put him in the frame for national selection. In the Sheffield Shield, he is currently the fifth-highest run-scorer, with 531 runs at an average of 44.25, including two centuries and two fifties in his 12 innings. Hampshire have been looking to add depth to their batting unit for some time, and Lehmann could be the man to provide it. They have also managed to sign Codi Yusuf after their deal for Jayden Seales feel through. Elsewhere, Hilton Cartwright rejoins for the Blast, while white-ball all-rounder Benny Howell has departed for Nottinghamshire. Keith Barker returns to Warwickshire, and Mark Stoneman has been released.
2026 Fixtures
Hampshire begins 2026 by welcoming Essex to the Rose Bowl before traveling to Yorkshire in Gameweek 2. Somerset is the next to visit Southampton before a break in GW4, followed by another home match, this time against Glamorgan. Hampshire will hope to make the most of a decent run of home matches in their early fixtures, as a tricky sequence follows with trips to Essex and Surrey and a home match against Nottinghamshire.
Hampshire faces Sussex in its other June fixture before hosting Yorkshire and traveling to Glamorgan in August. September sees home games against Warwickshire and a final-day clash with Sussex, with away games against Notts and Leicestershire in between.
