ScorecardScott Borthwick left Durham with a departing gift•Getty Images
For Hampshire, the equation was simple, but the task was not. They had 78 overs to take 10 Durham wickets, but managed just four. As a result, they will play their cricket in Division Two in 2017.The Ageas Bowl pitch, spitting and spiteful on day one, had not deteriorated enough, and Durham’s departees Mark Stoneman and Scott Borthwick signed off in style, with 137 and 88 respectively, in a simple six-wicket win.In the latter part of this partnership, the remaining Hampshire fans – so full of optimism after an outstanding opening day – were thumbing their Who’s Whos and their Playfairs researching which of the second tier’s delicious outgrounds (will we get Arundel? Or Tunbridge Wells? Or even Cheltenham?) they could visit next year, and trying to work out how a 10-team Division Two will even work.Either way, they will be back: “See you in spring,” they said on the final shirt-sleeve day of the summer, and off they went, having been wished a Happy Christmas by the ground announcer. What a world.How Hampshire toiled, but to no avail. They began the year unable to score runs, and end it still beset by injuries and still struggling to take 20 wickets. Mason Crane took the only wicket of consequence, Keaton Jennings’ famous season ending trapped plumb in front by a turner, before Stoneman and Borthwick bedded in to add 162.There were chances, but they were hardly clearcut: lbw appeals turned down, and edges not finding the men round the bat, while Stoneman twice – to reach 50, then on 67 – drove millimetres over James Vince’s head peddling back from mid-off. The pair’s method was to bat time and frustrate Hampshire, and slowly but surely Hampshire’s vim and vigour evaporated.Eventually Stoneman, having cut and driven beautifully, and swept the spinners – both reverse and orthodox – gloved Liam Dawson to short-leg, before Graham Clark, skipping down and stumped, then Borthwick lbw, both fell to Crane with the finishing line in sight. Ben Stokes and Paul Collingwood – who else? – were on hand to finish the job off.Surrey-bound Stoneman and Borthwick have both received abuse for their decisions to leave. Watching them accumulate steadily but stylishly must have been a slightly melancholic experience for Durham fans, purely serving as a reminder of quite how much they will be missed, even if Clark and Michael Richardson enjoyed fine games. They take 27 Durham centuries with them, and four consecutive seasons of more than 1,000 runs each. Having enjoyed a farewell dinner on the second evening, they sang the team song one final time.”It was a little bit emotional,” said Borthwick, “I knew it would be, especially if we won and sung the song. It’s been a fantastic game of cricket for four days, and it was a nice send-off. We needed a good partnership and it was good that it was me and Mark doing it, it was a nice way to finish my career with Durham.”I’m sad because I’m leaving the club I have loved and played for since the age of 10 but it’s a new challenge, I’m excited for. It’s not just team-mates that I’m leaving behind but my best mates, and even the coaching staff are great friends. That said, it’s really exciting to have a new chapter and Durham have some top players coming through.”Oddly, Hampshire’s future – personnel-wise, at least – is a touch more certain. This season has seen the emergence of Lewis McManus, whose excellent 67 set up the target Durham knocked off, Brad Wheal – who has an excellent short ball – and the classy top order bat Tom Alsop, as well as the continued development of Crane. A decent squad remains – if a touch light on bowling, although Reece Topley, the 12th man here, should help that – and an immediate return to the top flight seems likely.”If we had taken early wickets today we might have been able to put them under pressure,” said the director of cricket, Giles White. “But they played with a lot of skill and a bit of luck and the breakthrough didn’t come until it was almost too late.”We’ve got a good group of players and a very good spirit. We’ve had a difficult season and maybe not coped with the injuries as well as we might have done. We’ve got four really good young players and we decided to go that route. We want to bring through our own players and surround them with quality. Those four are a major positive. If the story had been different they may not have played as much.”Ultimately, however, there have been too many injuries, and too much incident to overcome: it seems no coincidence that both relegated sides have seen a key player suffer life-threatening illness (Michael Carberry for Hampshire and James Taylor for Notts). These are occurrences that shake dressing rooms. For Hampshire’s there’s been more still, in the death of prospect Hamza Ali, and the comparatively trivial departure of coach Dale Benkenstein.”The dressing room is very disappointed, deflated,” said White. “It’s very tough on the players. They’ve had a pretty tough year. It’s been exhausting for them. We’ll let the dust settle and go again.”
