“IT’s been frustrating in the second division, we regard ourselves as a big club so it was important to get back to the top tier where we aspire to be.”

Those were the words of Hampshire chairman Rod Bransgrove following last week’s LV County Championship promotion.

Hampshire’s preparations for life back in the first division are already well under way, following the additions of three seamers with international experience.

Aussie Jackson Bird and New Zealander Andre Adams will strengthen Hampshire’s seam attack during the first three months of next season.

And former Sussex and Pakistan star Yasir Arafat, who is expected to qualify as a non-overseas player next year, could also be available for Championship matches despite principally being signed for limited-overs cricket.

Meanwhile, the county’s first Championship silverware since winning the 1973 title is still being savoured.

Here are five defining moments from Hampshire’s promotion campaign:

Denying Saeed Ajmal at New Road (June 11)

When the last day began at New Road, Hampshire were 31-1 after following on 183 behind Worcestershire’s 419, Saeed Ajmal having taken 7-63. But after resuming on 22, Michael Carberry went on to make 125, defying the Pakistani, who finished the second innings with 1-114 as Hampshire closed on 321-5 to ensure they were level on 118 points with Worcestershire at the season’s midway point. Captain Jimmy Adams predicted it could be a season-defining day in the promotion race and so it proved as Hampshire pipped Worcestershire to the title by just three points.

Beating Essex at The Ageas Bowl (June 17)

Essex’s extraordinary second half of the season saw them win six of their last seven matches. So it was a good thing Hampshire won what in footballing parlance was a veritable six-pointer at The Ageas Bowl in mid-June. Hampshire were bowled out for 286 but Kyle Abbott’s match haul of 8-67 and James Vince’s magnificent 240 from only 222 balls – in a 387-run stand with Will Smith (151*) – ensured a 470-run win that put the eventual champions 52 points clear of Essex, both sides having played nine of their 16 matches. This pivotal win ensured Essex’s incredible haul of 142 over the last seven games was not enough to overhaul Hampshire, who managed 101 over the same period to keep the form team at bay. Despite being the best team in the second half of the season, Essex missed out on promotion by finishing eight points behind Worcestershire.

The return of Chris Wood (August 15)

Kyle Abbott bowled as well as everybody hoped in taking 36 wickets at just 20.3 apiece in nine appearances. But when he left for international duty with South Africa, there was concern as to who would fill the void. Matt Coles impressed with the new ball but it was Chris Wood’s first appearance since undergoing knee surgery that breathed new life into Hampshire’s promotion charge. He followed an 85-ball 61 with 5-39 on the first two days against an in-form Kent at Canterbury in August as Hampshire beat a team that was threatening a late promotion push by 196 runs. It was the first of three wins from Hampshire’s last four games, a late run of form kickstarted by Wood, who finished with 15 wickets at 16.8 – a salient reminder that he is a man for all formats.

Holding on against Kent (September 18)

As it turned out, Hampshire would probably have still won promotion had they lost their penultimate match of the season. But they could not be sure of that at the time and would not have won the title without this show of resilience from Hampshire’s hardest-to-beat team since the unbeaten class of 1973. Despite Sean Ervine’s first century for more than two years, which contributed to a last-wicket stand of 98, Hampshire followed before collapsing from 178-2 to 208-8. But Will Smith produced one of the county’s best innings of this or any other season, an unbeaten 142 out of a total of 248-9, and James Tomlinson saw off an aggregate of 69 balls for 13 unbeaten runs as Hampshire secured a ten-point advantage over Essex going into the last round of games. It also meant that Worcestershire’s lead was restricted to a surmountable 18 points.

The Cardiff Comeback (September 25)

Had Hampshire lost in Cardiff, they would have missed out on promotion. And when they were reduced to 53-3 by Glamorgan after winning the toss on the first day of their last match, it looked like that would be the case as Worcestershire were being bowled out for 84 by Essex. But James Vince (144) hit what he rates as his best century of a marvellous season and Sean Ervine (107) his second in as many innings. The pair shared a magnificent 225 for the sixth wicket and Hampshire did not look back until victory was secured by 291 runs following James Tomlinson’s 6-48.