Rewind: Warwickshire v Hampshire, 1998

Brian Lara's return to Warwickshire as captain in 1998 was not a happy one, but Hampshire's championship visit to Edgbaston in mid-July offered a rare highlight that year.

matc

2022-09-25T08:49:00.000Z

Brian Lara's return to Warwickshire as captain in 1998 was not a happy one, but Hampshire's championship visit to Edgbaston in mid-July offered a rare highlight that year.

Four years on from his incredible feats of '94, Lara was less productive with the bat and less than inspiring as skipper as the Bears endured a desultory season and finished eighth in the championship. But the 225-run win over Hampshire in Birmingham lifted spirits - albeit briefly as the Bears left the field to boos after the next game, a narrow defeat to Essex.

Hampshire were seen off handsomely, though, thanks to both runs and wickets from spin Neil Smith and Ashley Giles.

On a difficult pitch, the Bears chose to bat and hit early trouble at 100 for five but were bailed out by the twirlers in the lower order as Giles (75) and Smith (51) took them to 367. Even last man Ed Giddins, a rabbit of the old school, hung around for 11 to add 76 for the last wicket as Giles went on the offensive.

The slow left-armer then spun his way to five for 48 to secure his side a first innings lead 118. That appeared to be a mighty advantage on a pitch which was worn at the start and deteriorating fast. Second time round, batting was a fraught business as Smith joint top-scored (along with Michael Powell) for the Bears with 27 out of 187, setting Hampshire a highly unlikely target of 306.

They advanced to 43 for three then fell in a heap against Giles four for nine (nine for 57 in the match) and Smith (two for 16) as the scheduled four-day match was over well inside three. Within a few months, Smith was named as Lara's replacement as Warwickshire captain. Giles' long international career was about to take flight.