By Richard Edwards

COUNTY CRICKET was a very different beast in 1973. Just ask Barry Richards, who spent as much time on the road in his sponsored car as he did at the crease as Hampshire won the Championship – their most recent title.Hampshire face Lancashire this week knowing that a win should be enough to ensure they repeat that feat, 48 years on.Richards, 76, will raise a glass to that feat from afar if James Vince’s side triumph at Aigburth. Although he laments the way that the Championship has developed.“It’s now a sideshow,” he says. ...