Perhaps the England selectors should be looking closely at more than one Lancashire opener. That, at least, was the conclusion some drew at the Ageas Bowl, where Haseeb Hameed and Alex Davies played highly contrasting innings which displayed their abundant strengths to excellent effect.
Watched by the national selector, James Whitaker, Hameed made 77 not out, his first half-century in 21 first-class innings. He thus ended a prolonged dip in form which stretched back to the third Test against India last November.
Hameed showed exemplary patience in his search for something like his best cricket. He took 232 minutes and faced 154 balls to reach his precious fifty and contributed only 17 to the opening stand of 129 which wiped out Lancashire’s first-innings deficit of 75.
His careful accumulation hardly mattered while Davies was demolishing the Hampshire attack during a 92-ball 97. Crunching straight drives down the ground off Kyle Abbott and Fidel Edwards were included in his 16 fours yet nothing was as contemptuous as his slog-swept six off Ian Holland.
Undisturbed by Davies’ departure bat-and-pad, Hameed ground on to his fifty and became more assured with every passing over. Breezy contributions from Liam Livingstone (40), Dane Vilas (20), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (35) and Jos Buttler (21) could not disrupt his tempo and Lancashire ended the day on 314 for five, a lead of 239.
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Hameed, who had batted for just over five hours and hit ten fours, returned to the pavilion looking like a young man who had rediscovered lost treasure.