Hampshire bat out final day before declaring to deny visitors full bowling bonus points
Tom Prest made his second hundred of the season • Getty Images
Hampshire 424 for 8 dec (Prest 156, Albert 124, Brown 54, Critchley 5-96) drew with Essex 438 for 8 dec (Cox 141, Elgar 136, Westley 64)
Centuries from Toby Albert and Tom Prest gave a glimpse of Hampshire’s batting future as their Vitality County Championship clash with Essex petered into a draw.
Both homegrown batters in their early 20s, they each scored exceptional hundreds filling in – with Albert playing in place of the injured Ali Orr, and Prest elevated up the order with James Vince unable to bat in his usual position.
The duo made sure Essex’s low chances of forcing 19 wickets needed for victory became non-existent, with career-best scores of 124 and 156 respectively. Matt Critchley claimed a late 5 for 96 as both teams took away 14 points – a haul that is unlikely to worry table-toppers Surrey in the fight for the title.
Hampshire began the day on 40 for 1, and 398 runs in arrears, with the initial plan to avoid the follow-on, and then hunt for batting bonus points. It turned out the quest was a simple one.
Albert, with Fletcha Middleton and Nick Gubbins, dead batted a way through the new ball the previous evening, on a pitch which offered zero help for the bowlers.
The morning saw 106 runs for only the loss of Gubbins, for 30, after he tamely diverted to a catching midwicket following a 61-run stand with Albert.
Albert, 21, has largely made the most of his chances at the top of the batting order, having replaced Orr – the former Sussex batter suffering a back injury and then a broken arm to curtail his season.
He began with a maiden Championship century against Surrey in May, before impressing in the Vitality Blast – his batting styles vastly different between the formats.
Albert, the son of two Olympic equestrians, reached his century in 199 balls, having cranked through the gears as the day progressed. He found a like-minded partner in Prest – who was initially due to bat at No. 7 before Vince suffered a niggle in the field, and due to his time off the pitch, wasn’t allowed to bat any higher.
If Hampshire wanted a Vince doppelganger, they got it – both very watchable batters, who pace their innings seemingly for the enjoyment of the crowd.
Prest had fully announced himself, after a couple of promising T20 campaigns, with a century against Essex at the Cloud County Ground, Chelmsford towards the end of last season. The 21-year-old missed the previous three Championship fixtures with a shoulder injury, but reached his third career ton in 141 deliveries – although only after he was dropped on 92 by Simon Harmer.
Albert fell when reverse sweeping Critchley to deep point, which ended a 177-run partnership. But Ben Brown and Prest passed the follow-on target just before tea, before Prest began to eye up 450 – and full batting bonus points.
At one point he had taken 52 runs, with Brown, in four overs – in which time he had hit Harmer for 14 and 19 in an over, brought up the century stand and reached a maiden 150.
Prest fell for 156 when he advanced and holed out to long-off and Brown was bowled by Shane Snater for a 59-ball 54. Critchley then picked up Liam Dawson, Kyle Abbott and Vince in the space of four balls to claim a five-wicket haul.
On his departure, Vince decided to declare the innings, reckoning 450 runs was now above them, while preventing Essex gaining from maximum bowling points.
