HAMPSHIRE chairman Rod Bransgrove admits he has two remaining ambitions – an Ashes Test and the LV County Championship title. 

Bransgrove, who will be 65 this weekend, said he wants an Ashes Test and the Championship trophy at the Ageas Bowl before he retires.

After the ground’s pavilion was named after him during the second day of Hampshire’s match against Yorkshire, he said: “I‘m keen to go back to the reason I first came here - to help the cricket team.

“A third County Championship would be a fitting finale! I would probably go then and everyone would be happy!

“It’s a competition that has eluded us (Hampshire’s only Championship titles were won in 1961 and 1973)but we want to give that a real crack over the next five years.

“We’ve got a brilliant development system now, a superb academy with some fantastic young players coming in.

“We’ve got to put ourselves in a position where we can win this competition.”

A first Ashes Test in 2023 is Bransgrove’s other goal.

“We didn’t seem to have a great deal of luck with the ECB’s  previous management group but the current management are very professional people and very fair minded and I do feel we should get a bit more luck with major match allocations in future,” he said.

“There are areas we can improve but we haven’t made any secret of the fact that we deserve an Ashes Test.  “We certainly don’t deserve to be the only ground in the country not to have been given an Ashes Test.”

It is fitting that the Ageas Bowl pavilion should be named after Bransgrove, whose business nous and drive saved Hampshire from folding when he took over as chairman and chief executive in 2000.

He oversaw the move from Northlands Road to the now complete Ageas Bowl, overcoming many obstacles along the way.

 Following the official naming of the pavilion, Bransgrove spoke against its backdrop, between the Colin Ingleby-Mackenzie and Shane Warne stands.

 “Seeing my name sandwiched between two great players - great players on and off the field I should add – is overwhelming.

“When this was mentioned to me some time ago my first reaction was that it’ a nice thought but I’m not dead yet - I thought it might be their way of trying to say goodbye!  “I’m not going anywhere but it’s a very lovely gesture and I’m very grateful.  “It’s a fantastic accolade but a lot of people have contributed to this 15 year project and it’s as much for them as it is for me.”

The official opening of the Ageas Bowl’s Hilton Hotel was when the scale of Bransgrove’s achievement sunk in.   

“It dawned on me as Catherine Zeta-Jones was announcing that it was all complete that we’d finished the job. 

"Let’s not forget we’ve been through very difficult economic times, a judicial review and even builders going bust so we’ve had the whole spectrum of problems but got through it.

“The business is vaguely profitable now so that’s the most special thing. And we’ve got a brilliant chief executive in David Mann.”