by Paul McNamara

THE start of the cricket season and dank, miserable weather are familiar bedfellows.

Under cold, slate grey skies at Hampshire’s Ageas Bowl home, though, Lewis McManus is a ray of light, the personification of brighter days ahead.

At 22, Poole-born McManus – a former football team-mate of Cherries player Harry Cornick – already has some pretty decent ones behind him.

The wicket-keeper batsman struck his maiden first-class hundred last year and averaged nearly 40 with the blade in what was the very definition of a breakthrough campaign.

What’s more, the former England under-19 player’s consistent excellence behind the stumps impressed his county enough for them to reward him with a fresh three-year contract.

McManus, though, views his progress thus far as merely a foot in the door. He has seen Hampshire colleagues off representing their country this winter and he wants a piece of that himself.

It helps that, in his drive for success on the county and international stage, he can turn to a former Premier League football star for counsel.

McManus told the Daily Echo: “I was delighted with how last year went. But I have to kick on and be more consistent.

“I want to make myself one of the top wicket-keeper batsmen on the county scene and receiving international recognition is a genuine goal for me.

“But, first and foremost, I need to control what I can, to score runs and take catches – and, hopefully, the international stuff will look after itself at the end of the summer.

“To get into the first team here as a wicket-keeper, with only one position up for grabs, I have had to get my head down and work so hard. That is what I will keep doing.”

McManus, who graduated through the ranks at Dorset, remains in touch with Cornick. Indeed, their Poole Borough under-13 football team boasted some impressive stock.

He takes up the story: “Those were good days. I still speak to Harry and it is great to see his career going so well, he was always a good player and I hope things go really well for him.

“There were a lot of decent footballers in that team, we had (former Cherries youngsters) Josh Carmichael and Brandon Goodship as well.

“I wish I still played. We play in the warm-ups here, which is always fun and I miss it quite a lot.”

Back to the cricket. Hampshire avoided relegation to Division Two of the County Championship last season only due to Durham’s demotion owing to financial issues.

The county have their sights on contesting matters at the other end of the division this year, aided by high-profile foreign recruits Kyle Abbott, George Bailey and Rilee Rossouw.

McManus is planning to tap into the overseas trio’s wisdom in his pursuit of continual improvement.

“Having those guys in the squad is like gold dust,” he says. “Us young lads really look up to all the senior players and, in terms of helping us quicken our development, having them here is a massive boost.

“We have a great balance of internationals and youngsters, who have proved they can flourish at this level. We are confident we can beat anybody in Division One.”

McManus’s partner is Kenzie Benali, whose dad Francis played 373 matches for Southampton before his retirement in 2003.

“Franny is so down to earth and easy to chat to,” says McManus. “His advice in terms of the mental side of sport is so valuable. And with all he has achieved, he is a brilliant role model for any sportsperson. I try to chat to him as much as I can about his career.”

Hampshire launch their campaign at Yorkshire next week, the county against whom it all started for McManus two years ago. He has come a long way since then. But you suspect he has even further to go.