May's Bounty

[3] The first match which was recorded at the ground saw Basingstoke play a United South of England Eleven.

[7] The ground was originally known as The Folly, but was renamed in honour of Lt Col John May, a member of a Basingstoke family of brewers, who bought The Folly from Thomas Burberry in 1880 to preserve it for sporting use, with the ground being donated to the cricket club playing there as a gift or "Bounty".

[2] In the match against Nottinghamshire, Hampshire made their lowest first-class total at the ground when they were dismissed for just 61.

[10] Hampshire played a final first-class match there before World War II against Worcestershire.

[5] First-class cricket didn't return to the ground immediately after the war, with Hampshire next playing there in 1951 against Oxford University.

[1] The following season the ground held its first List A match when Hampshire played Lincolnshire in the 1967 Gillette Cup.

[13][14] The highest score in List A cricket at the ground was made in 1974 by Barry Richards against Glamorgan.

A match in progress at May's Bounty in 2005. The steeple in the background belongs to "All Saints Church" and the high rise office block in the distance is situated in Basingstoke town centre.
A view of the ground looking north toward the Town End.