Robin Smith back to lead Hampshire for the last time

Robin Smith will lead out the Hampshire side for the last time this Sunday, as he takes his place for only the second time this season in a Norwich Union League Division Two game, when the Northamptonshire Steelbacks visit the Rose Bowl.

Smith, who announced he was standing down from the captaincy position after five years in the job, heads the 13-man squad for the final game of a disappointing 2002 season, regaining the reigns from Will Kendall, for what is likely to be an emotional match for the 39-year-old.

There is no place in the squad for the released Jason Laney, who had been a regular fixture of the side for the past two months, so John Crawley replaces him from the last NUL game at Hove a fortnight ago.

A win for Hampshire will see them assured of a home tie in next seasons' 2003 Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy, as the bottom four sides in NUL2 meet each other instead of a Minor County.

Hampshire squad: Neil Johnson, Will Kendall, John Crawley, Robin Smith (capt), John Francis, James Adams, Nic Pothas (w-k), Dimitri Mascarenhas, Lawrence Prittipaul, James Hamblin, Shaun Udal, Alan Mullally, James Tomlinson.