WASTE OF TIME!

Hampshire were unable to force the win they needed to put pressure on the second division championship leaders because of a lifeless Trent Bridge wicket.

For captain Warne, it amounted to four days of frustration despite some record-breaking statistics:

The match produced John Crawley's unbeaten 301, the third highest score in Hampshire's history;

Two centuries from Australian batsman Michael Clarke, the first time the feat had been achieved by a Hampshire batsman for seven years.

Hampshire scoring 641-4 - their fifth highest score of all time.

Warne blasted: "I didn't enjoy it one bit. I've never played on a wicket like that before and I hope I never do again, that was just an absolute joke.

"It wasn't just flat, it was dead. It was just no good to anybody, what a waste of four days."

When Notts beat Hampshire by an innings and 44 runs seven weeks ago, Warne described the wicket as the worst he had played on at the Rose Bowl.

But he reckons the Trent Bridge track used this week was even worse.

"Everyone says it's a pretty poor pitch when they come to our place but I categorise a wicket like that worse.

"You've got to fight and hang in there to get runs at the Rose Bowl, it's a fairer contest between bat and ball.

"When you get a chance to go head to head at the top you want a game of cricket, but this wasn't even a contest - there were ten wickets for 1,200 runs after three days.

"It wasn't great to watch and it wasn't great to play in either - it wasn't good for anyone."

Warne, who took 2 for 133, said: "For the spinners there was a bit of rough but it was just rolling along the ground.

"It wasn't bouncing so you couldn't get any bat/pads either."

Warne's hopes of getting Notts to help play for a positive result were turned down by the second division leaders.

"On that wicket it was so hard to bowl anyone out that I said I'd set them 370 in a day for a game of cricket and they said no."

The wicket ensured that Nottinghamshire's run of five successive championship wins came to an end but the draw suited the home side more than it did Hampshire.

Asked if he thought Notts had produced a dead wicket so as not to risk defeat, Warne said: "I don't know, I wouldn't have a clue, but I'd be disappointed to play on a wicket like that again."

Hampshire manager Paul Terry said: "They may have set out to produce a draw because that suits them.

"In a similar situation I hope we wouldn't have done the same thing, if we were able to. But we've just got to play on what we find and we played pretty well, which is all you can do.

"There were a lot of highlights with the runs scored by John Crawley and Michael Clarke but it wasn't ideal for people wanting to come and watch the game."