In 2027, Hampshire’s Utilita Bowl, formerly known as the Ageas Bowl, will join the exclusive club and become the tenth English cricket venue to host one of the Test matches that make up the Ashes series.
There are few rivalries in sport, let alone cricket, that carry the same weight and history as the Ashes. When they take place, the five matches between England and Australia are full of high-octane and high-pressure moments, with a few sledges thrown in.
As a result, those select venues in England that get to host one of these prized matches see an uplift in their reputation, and by extension, the resident club as well.
Nick Hoult, an award-winning cricket correspondent for The Telegraph, can explain why the rivalry has the stature it does and why the players love playing in them. Therefore, it can give those heading to the Utilita Bowl next July an idea of what to expect:
“Every sport has its kind of zenith, and it actually has been that for English cricket probably since 2005. I think that’s when it really captured the imagination.”
“The Ashes has that history. Players and legends are made in Ashes series.”
As Hoult describes the feeling of those representing the Three Lions in an away series, the same feeling is carried by the Aussies when they visit England, as they will be next year:
“They’re standing on the shoulders of legendary names. You go to an Ashes Test match in Australia… there is that rich history going back a very long time.”
The historic run of games has possibly benefited from the rise of social media, as the platforms give the separate sets of fans easier access to rib one another, and thus the rivalry remains:
“It’s a rivalry that is showing no sign of dimming in the modern era with media and social media. It’s only getting bigger.”
This is the kind of history that Southampton and the surrounding area will soon see. For Hampshire CCC specifically, it’s a challenge that has been welcomed for a long time, but has been anything but an easy journey to get there, and one that has taken over a quarter of a century.
Hoult, rather bluntly, highlights the roots of this story, in the form of Hampshire’s former home, Northlands Road:
“It’s probably the end of the journey, isn’t it? It was a farmer’s field with horses grazing 20-odd years ago and now it’s hosting an Ashes Test match.
“The Rose Bowl has developed hugely over the time that I’ve been there.
“Why not? Why not have a game there?”
Now the club and ground have got their long-awaited moment in the sun, as Hoult says, it isn’t just the chance to host a Test match that those involved in the journey can look forward to:
“It’s a sense of being part of the big table, isn’t it? Financially, it’s huge. It’s a deal breaker for many of them.
“They can make enough money to sustain the club for a few years on the back of an Ashes Test. It’s massive for the city as well.
“It will put them in the serious players in the game if they host it successfully.”
With thanks to their long-term planning, since hosting their first Test in 2011, the ground has adapted every time:
“It actually made them raise their standards. They improved the spectator experience because of their competition for these Test matches.”
At the same time, though, Hoult predicts that despite this historic moment, the ground won’t be a regular host of Test matches. However, its faithful need not worry because he does feel that the nations that will visit the most will be two that a victory over means more against: India and, crucially, Australia.
In this case, the location in play is Southampton, and the majority of those that will be in attendance for those special five days, if it lasts that long, will be from the area and can soak up the atmosphere:
“There is something different. It just feels that it matters a little bit more.
“It is the sense of anticipation in the crowd. You can really feel it.”
There is a good chance that the development will attract non-cricket fans and definitely casual fans, and Hoult has a very simple instruction for those people before travelling to understand how big of a moment it is.
“I’d just go on YouTube, tap in ‘great Ashes moments’, and a long list will come. If one of those happens to be at the Rose Bowl in 10 years’ time, we’ll look back and say, that’s why you won an Ashes Test Match.”
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