Arlott, Rice and Richards

Martin Chandler | 8:31am BST 20 July 2025

Published: 2025
Pages: 68
Author: Winter, John
Publisher: Hampshire Cricket Heritage
Rating: 4 stars

Sometimes, and increasingly in recent years, the death knell of county cricket as we know it is sounded. There is a young upstart in English cricket at the moment, the much vilified Hundred, and those that run the game sometimes give the impression that the financial health of that competition is all they care about. The true cricketing connoisseur however cares only about the county game and, if they do nothing else, publications like this one reassure me that the county game is, in the long run, going to survive and thrive.

The sub-title of John Winter’s second contribution to Hampshire Cricket Heritage’s series of booklets is Celebrating 50 years since Hampshire’s first one-day title in 1975. On a personal level just looking at the cover was a sobering thought, as it brought into focus the fact that I myself can vividly recall the events of a cricket season that ended half a century ago. But that troubling thought was soon outweighed by the pleasure of the memories that the booklet soon brought flooding back.

My father was a Hampshire man, born and bred and a great supporter of the county and of Southampton FC. He was therefore well served by the mid 1970s, as Hampshire won the County Championship in 1973, and were then runners-up in 1974 before winning the Sunday League in 1975, and then little Southampton, from the old Second Division, stunned the nation by beating Manchester United in the 1976 FA Cup Final.

When I was very small our family moved to a village halfway between Blackpool and Preston and therefore circumstances and peer pressure guaranteed that my younger brother and myself have always regarded ourselves for cricketing purposes as Lancastrians and, the Red Rose taking the Sunday League in the competition’s first two summers we learnt about cricketing banter at an early age and, to be fair to him, the old man took it very well. My brother and I were therefore very happy, as we all sat around the television on Sunday 7th September 1975, to enjoy the old man’s delight as Hampshire cruised to victory over Derbyshire in what remains the only county cricket match ever to have been played at Darley Dale.

Meanwhile, back in Hampshire, a young John Winter was also in front of his television, and over the course of the summer had also been able to attend in person at some of the county’s home fixtures. Understandably the summer left a lasting impression on him so much so that, half a century on, he has chosen to write this booklet.

Clearly for him it could have been an easy task, and probably something he could have knocked off in a couple of afternoons and made a decent job of,whilst sat at his computer and with a 1976 Wisden and Hampshire handbook by his side.

But John has done a lot more than that. He has talked at length to three members of the side, John Rice, Andy Murtagh and Richard Lewis, and also spoken to others. Beyond that he appears to have dug out if not every newspaper report on the games then most of them.

The narrative itself sticks largely to the progress of the Sunday League, but there are references to the wider cricket world in 1975 and in particular the first World Cup, and even the odd glimpse into society itself, when inflation ran at more than 20% and political divides were as wide as they have always been.

For me reading Arlott, Rice and Richards meant being transported back to my mid teens and the rather simpler way of life that brings with it and for that reason alone if left to my own devices I would probably give this a five star rating, but I should obviously bring at least an element of objectivity into play, but even doing that it must be well worth four stars.

Copies of Arlott, Rice and Richards is published in a limited edition of 200 individually signed and numbered copies at a cost of £8.50 including UK postage and packing and can be purchased directly from hantscccheritage@gmail.com. For buyers in the Southern Hemisphere I believe copies are on their way to Roger Page.