By Matt Somerford
Hampshire wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Wheater believes promotion would further vindicate his decision to swap Essex for the south coast last year.
Wheater has had few regrets since he bought himself out of the final year of his contract at the Essex County Ground on the eve of last season.
The 24-year-old was the third-choice gloveman at his home county – behind James Foster and Ben Foakes – and while Hampshire did not guarantee a first-team place he made the move on a two-year deal to begin a fresh start.
Eighteen months on and after establishing himself behind the stumps at the Ageas Bowl, and signing a new three-year deal in July, Wheater is on the verge of confirming himself as a Division One player for the first time in his career.
“It would be (a vindication). I moved to Hampshire for more keeping opportunities and I’m grateful that I’ve got that,” he told ecb.co.uk.
“I’ve had the chance to improve as a player here and ultimately that is what you are looking for.
“You look at it year on year and if I ask the question to myself whether I have been getting better then the answer has to be ‘yes’.
“I’ve not played in the first division and that would be another stage in my career. You want to test yourself against the best.
“There is a lot of talk at the minute, and there has been for the last couple of seasons at least, about the difference in standard between the first division and second division.
“Sometimes scoring runs in the second division is almost overlooked so it would be nice to make a statement personally, if we do go up, to try and play as well as I can in the first division.”
Wheater has enjoyed a solid season in the championship this term, hitting 565 runs at an average of 37.66, including a century at his former employers Essex.
He knows, however, that there is still plenty of work to do to if Hampshire are to cap the summer by going up, despite being favourites to take the second promotion place.
Worcestershire confirmed their return to the top-flight with a late fightback against Surrey yesterday and Hampshire – who will be without opener Michael Carberry for the rest of the season – should follow them if they win either of their final two games, against Kent and Glamorgan.
“If you offered us promotion now in an ugly way – winning one and drawing one then we’d take it,” Wheater said.
“In an ideal world if we could win the last two then it would be a decent celebration afterwards.”
Two wins could even deliver the Division Two title, although they would need Worcestershire to slip up in their final game at third-placed Essex.
Hampshire have won their past two championship games and certainly will not die wondering, after bringing back South Africa leg-spinner Imran Tahir for the final two matches of the season.
Tahir claimed 80 wickets in two seasons with the club, and has a point to prove after he was part of the 2011 squad that suffered relegation.
“Ultimately we want to win two games and the club made a pretty big statement with signing Tahir again,” Wheater said.
“Having a world-class bowler for the last two games provides a real confidence boost and shows what Hampshire wants to do.
“It’s great for us to be in this situation. The previous couple of years with Essex and, last year with Hampshire, the last couple of games have been dead rubber games so it makes it the back end of the season more interesting.”