Hampshire 714-5 declared
Notts 213
Notts 313 (Bicknell 97, Read 63)

Hampshire won by an innings and 188 runs

Newell brushed off the heavy defeat by the runners-up at the Rose Bowl and is already at ways to focus his side on lifting the trophy again.

He said: ?There have been few teams who have actually managed to retain the Championship and it?s a huge challenge to present to the players.

?Over the winter I?ll be looking at ways to re-motivate ourselves, looking at teams in the past who have managed to hold on to the title and how they managed to do that.

?Tactically I won?t be changing anything. We?ll be using the same formula and the same players with the aim of getting a big score in the first innings and bowling the opposition out twice.

?Hampshire were very much up for the game and we were a little bit off colour. That showed and they deserved to win.

?In the end we?ve finished with identical records but batting points have won us the title. It?s shown what I?ve always believed - if you keep playing on good pitches and score heavily, you will get the rewards and I hope that will be the case next year.?