McKenzie Signs On Again For Hampshire; Howell And Ravenscroft Depart

McKenzie Signs On Again For Hampshire; Howell And Ravenscroft Depart

McKenzie (left) will be returning to Hampshire colours again next season.

©Action Images

Neil McKenzie has confirmed that he will be returning to The Rose Bowl next season, albeit in a reduced role, while Hampshire have announced that batsmen Benny Howell and Tim Ravenscroft will both be leaving the club.

McKenzie, now 36 and with a family in his native South Africa, will return for the start of the Royals’ Friends Life t20 campaign which begins on 14^th June - an arrangement which will allow him to take a short break from cricket following his winter in South Africa - and is expected to stay for the remainder of the season. However, Hampshire manager Giles White explained that the new agreement was flexible in its nature.

He said, “It's a great boost for the changing room that Neil will be returning in 2012. He contributes on many different levels, has been outstanding in one-day cricket, and brings quality and experience to the group. It is the intention for Neil to join the squad in the lead up to the Friends Life t20 competition but we have discussed a flexibility that may allow us to call on his services before then.”

McKenzie, who first joined the club in 2010 on a Kolpak deal, said of the news, “I’m really looking forward to coming back to The Rose Bowl for my third season. Last year was tough for the team [they were relegated from Division One of the Championship and failed to defend their Twenty20 title], particularly as we had hoped to build on what we had achieved in 2010, so I’m looking forward to making some good contributions for the club going forward. We've got everything in place from personnel to facilities and passion so all the indications are that we should have a great 2012.”

While 2011 was a difficult one for Hampshire as a team, it was a different story for McKenzie personally as he finished as their leading run-scorer in first-class cricket with 1120 runs at an average of 41.48, and contributed 237 runs to a club record stand of 523 with Michael Carberry against Yorkshire in August. Since returning to South Africa following the conclusion of the county season, the Johannesburg-born right-hander has been in fine form for his home franchise, the Highveld Lions, and has scored 840 runs at an average of 56 in all cricket.

Meanwhile Howell, who first intimated back in November that he was looking to leave the club, said at the end of last year, “It’s no secret that I want to play more four-day cricket. My ambition is to play for England and I know the only way to do that is to grab my opportunities. I’ve only been playing two forms of the game for Hampshire, apart from the one four-day game I played last summer when I did quite well.”

The 23 year-old has averaged over 40 with the bat in one-day cricket over 13 matches for the Royals since making his debut in 2010 and is a product of their Academy system. Despite being born in France to an Australian mother, he was educated at the prestigious Oratory School in Reading and is currently playing club cricket in Melbourne.

Ravenscroft, who was born on Guernsey and has represented them since 2008 as well as playing one one-day match for Hampshire, describes himself on his Twitter page as, “From Guernsey and joined Hampshire CCC squad [in] 2011, saw the light so racked that and now becoming a stockbroker at Cenkos [a company which has business interests on Guernsey].

It appears that the 19 year-old, who was part of Hampshire’s Academy for four years, has not turned his back on cricket completely, however, as he represented Guernsey in World Cricket League Division Six, which they won, in September 2011.

© Cricket World 2012