Proud Udal at the helm

Off-spinner Udal was handed the captaincy less than 24 hours before the start of Hampshire's championship clash against Somerset.

The former Hampshire vice-captain - Udal was Robin Smith's deputy from 1998-2000 - was asked to replace Warne as captain on Thursday and did not have to think twice before accepting.

He said: "I did the friendlies before the start of the season but the last time I captained Hampshire was probably in 2000 when Warney was playing.

"It's a great honour. I've never made any secret of the fact that I would love to do it if it came my way."

Udal became Hampshire's fifth captain in less than three seasons yesterday.

Will Kendall captained Hampshire in the win over Yorkshire at Headingley last month, but he is believed to have been overlooked as a poor performance against Somerset may cost him his place when the Tykes visit The Rose Bowl next week.

And John Crawley, who succeeded Robin Smith last year as a stand-in for Warne, is believed to have been overlooked as he is a more reluctant captain than Udal.

Udal added: "I wasn't expecting it but I got a call from Paul Terry on Thursday afternoon. I snapped his hand off and said 'thank you very much'."

The day began well for Udal when he won the toss, and he rescued his side with his second half-century of the season in an 80-run partnership with Chris Tremlett after Hampshire had slumped to 175-8.

"It was a good toss to win and Michael Brown played beautifully - it was the best I've seen anyone play at The Rose Bowl this season.

We weren't so clever just before tea. There had been a couple of indifferent shots and 175-8 was not acceptable.

"I would have been disappointed with anything less than 200 but we can bat all the way down and, in the end, it wasn't a bad day."

Warne was at The Rose Bowl before leaving for Australia in mid-afternoon.

"He's been inspirational," added Udal. "He leads from the front and left me a couple of nice messages after he left."