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
Australian cricket team in India in 2000–01 Australia's winning streak, with former captain Bishan Bedi lamenting the demise of Indian cricket. Australia were again in control on the first day, having scored 193/1, with Hayden having struck Harbhajan out of the attack. Harbhajan fought back to reduce Australia to 252/7, taking five wickets in the final session, including Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist and Shane Warne in successive balls to become the first Indian to claim a Test hat-trick. After a prolonged wait for the third umpire to adjudicate whether Sadagoppan Ramesh had managed to catch Warne before the ball hit the ground, the near-capacity crowd at Eden