It’s been a groundbreaking month at Hampshire CCC. A couple of weeks before the club announced a £120m takeover by GMR Group, co-owners of IPL franchise Delhi Capitals, 1,044 solar panels sparked into life at their home ground when they hosted England’s T20I against Australia.
A rainy, overcast day may have been ill-fitting for the ‘switch on’ at Utilita Bowl, renamed this year as part of the club’s partnership with the Southampton-based energy supplier, but it marked a big leap forward for English cricket. Somerset, Surrey, Derbyshire, Sussex and Lord’s already use solar energy, with other grounds taking steps to follow them. But this project, which should generate 381,829kwh per year, covering approximately a quarter of the total electricity used by the stadium, is on an unprecedented scale.
“It’s a…
