Subject to ratification by the England and Wales Cricket Board, in 2024 a £120 million deal was agreed to sell the club to Indian Premier League franchise Delhi Capitals , including a 51% stake in the Hundred team Southern Brave.

A poem written in Latin by Robert Matthew in 1647 contains a probable reference to cricket being played by pupils of Winchester College on nearby St. Catherine's Hill.

There remains no definite knowledge of Hambledon cricket before 1756, when its team had gained sufficient repute to be capable of attempting three matches against Dartford, itself a famous club since the 1720s if not earlier.

Hambledon produced some legendary Hampshire players including master batsman John Small and the two great fast bowlers Thomas Brett and David Harris.

Hampshire County Cricket Club was founded on 12 August 1863[5] and played its first first-class match against Sussex at the Antelope Ground, Southampton on 7 and 8 July 1864.

[7] Between 1900 and 1905, Hampshire were almost continuously struggling as their key officer-batsmen, Major Poore and Captain Wynyard were faced with either moving to South Africa or increased military duties at home from the Boer War.

From 1906 onwards, with the qualification of Phil Mead, Jack Newman and later George Brown, Hampshire became a much more competitive side, though not until 1910 did they win as many games as they lost in a season.

In 1937 Dick Moore set the individual scoring record for Hampshire against Warwickshire at Dean Park Cricket Ground in Bournemouth.

[10] After World War II, Derek Shackleton became an outstanding bowling mainstay well backed up by Victor Cannings, but not until 1955 did these two have enough support to rise the fortunes of the club.

In 1955 Hampshire finished as high as third with Shackleton taking 160 wickets and Cannings and Peter Sainsbury around 100, with Roy Marshall was one of the few exciting batsmen of the time.

Derek Shackleton took the most wickets for the club with 153, and Butch White’s tearaway speed was equally dangerous in a dry summer.

Again, however, Hampshire were disappointing until Barry Richards joined the county in 1968, when they rose from tenth to fifth in the Championship and established themselves as a power in limited-overs cricket.

Bob Cottam was the second-highest first-class wicket-taker in 1968 and the highest in 1969, but did not maintain this excellence before joining Northamptonshire and in 1970 and 1971 Hampshire fell to mid-table.

[14] 1984 also saw the last game of Venezuelan captain Nick Pocock (Maracaibo, 1951) and the arrival of another West Indian, Cardigan Connor who would spend 14 years with the club.

In the 1991 County Championship season Hampshire won the NatWest Trophy, defeating Surrey by 4 wickets, with Shaun Udal claiming the man of the match award.

Two years later, Hampshire progressed to the final of the newly renamed 2007 Friends Provident Trophy at Lord's after finishing top of the South Division.

[27] In 2007 Hampshire chairman Rod Bransgrove announced plans for the redevelopment of the Rose Bowl to bring Test cricket to the ground.

A series of strong performances helped Hampshire go from relegation favourites to title outsiders going into the final round of matches.

[32] On 25 July the club won the 2009 Friends Provident Trophy final at Lord's, beating rivals Sussex[33] thanks to a man-of-the-match performance from Dominic Cork, with him taking 4/41.

The 2012 season though, under new captain Jimmy Adams after the retirement of Cork, would prove to be highly successful for Hampshire with the county winning both the 2012 Friends Life t20[34] – their 2nd Twenty20 title, and the 2012 Clydesdale Bank 40 where a final ball dot ball from Kabir Ali led to Hampshire winning as a result of losing less wickets than opponents Warwickshire.

He brought instant success as Hampshire won promotion as champions to the County Championship First Division with victory over Glamorgan on 23 September 2014.

Hampshire, in partnership with Berkshire, Dorset, Isle of Wight, Oxfordshire, Sussex and Wiltshire cricket boards along with Southampton Solent University, will compete in a women's Twenty20 competition against the other team.

Following the appointment of Denning, Hampshire announced the naming of their Women's Cricket Super League team as the Southern Vipers.

The Vipers then won the inaugural Kia Super League on 21 August, defeating Western Force in the final by 7 wickets.

A large number of injuries at the start of the season, including to fast bowlers Reece Topley, Fidel Edwards, Chris Wood and Ryan Stevenson, coupled with poor form and tough circumstances, after the death of trialist fast bowler Hamza Ali in a drowning accident, and long serving opening batsman Michael Carberry being diagnosed with a cancerous lung tumour, saw Hampshire suffer a poor season, being knocked out in the group stages of both the Natwest t20 Blast, where they missed out on Finals Day for the first time since 2009, and the Royal London One-Day Cup.

Their championship season was much the same as in 2015, again making a slow start, but they gave themselves too much to do and were relegated back to Division Two after defeat against Durham on 23 September 2016.

Kolpak stars Kyle Abbott and Fidel Edwards both taking more than 50 wickets in the season but it was in List A cricket where Hampshire were most successful, winning the 2018 Royal London One-Day Cup, with a century in the final at Lord's by Rilee Rossouw.

Kyle Abbott once again was leading wicket taker, while also taking the best Hampshire bowling figures in a match when he took 17/86 against Somerset in September.

There was though success for Hampshire academy graduates James Vince and Liam Dawson as they were part of England's victorious World Cup winning side.

In Twenty20 cricket, Hampshire made Finals Day following a dramatic 2 run win over Nottinghamshire in the quarter-final, but lost to Somerset in the semi-finals.