Former Proteas seamer Kyle Abbott is excited to be able to forge a formidable partnership with West Indian Fidel Edwards during the 2019 County Championship Division One.

Abbott and Edwards were instrumental in Hampshire’s 87-run victory over Essex in Southampton last week. They shared 15 wickets in an opposition order lined with former international cricketers Alastair Cook, Ravi Bopara and Tom Westley.

‘I don’t think we could have scripted that any better. A pretty perfect start, to say the least. Bowling with Fidel at the other end I think I’m going to get a few wickets because of him,’ said Abbott.

‘I can see the guys aren’t fancying him. It’s nice to hit a rhythm and bowl well in tandem with Fidel, and hopefully we can carry on and this is just the start of good things.

‘Our plans are pretty much bowling straight, and I think we’re going carry on through this whole season just making the batsmen play as much as possible.

‘He’s looking good and it’s nice to see him firing. He brings something totally different, especially to the tail. It’s as good as having a mystery spinner to the tail when he’s going upstairs and then fast at the stumps, so he’s a good asset to have in our side.’

The match also featured former Proteas pair Simon Harmer and Rilee Rossouw – and batsman Aiden Markram.

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