Hampshire County Cricket Club begun on Hampshire's long-awaited new ground. The realisation of this move almost led the club to financial ruin, as encouragement from financial partners Sport England and the hiring of architect Sir Michael Hopkins had led the then part-time voluntary committee running the club to lose control of the budget. In 2000 Australian great Shane Warne was signed as the club's overseas player. The 2000 County Championship was to be the last season that Hampshire would play at the County Ground Southampton before they moved in 2001 to the new Rose Bowl ground just outside Southampton. 2001 also saw current club
Victoria cricket team the Shield, Victoria has won the competition 30 times, most recently in the 2015/16 season. The Victorian Cricket Association, now Cricket Victoria, was founded in 1895 and is located in Melbourne, adjacent to the MCG. Victoria has featured a significant number of cricketing greats, such as Warwick Armstrong, Bill Woodfull, Bill Ponsford, Neil Harvey, Hugh Trumble, Lindsay Hassett, Dean Jones, Jack Blackham, Jack Ryder, Bill Lawry, Bob Cowper, Shane Warne, Keith Miller and Ian Redpath. (See here for a full listing of past players). Victoria has been a powerful force in Australian cricket and the Australian cricket team has, at