Tough, Resilient and Single-Minded - Introducing Oliver Williams

"He'd been hit around a bit early on and there was an Essex supporter who'd clearly had a few drinks.

He was shouting, 'Williams! Williams! Does your dad own the club - how the f*** have you got a contract?

"Then towards the end of the game he was shouting, "Williams! Williams! Warm up, will you? We need some runs!

"Oliver thought it was hilarious."

Oli Williams, was handed an opportunity by Hampshire in the Metro Bank One Day Cup.

Now, he's the proud owner of a rookie contract and looking forward to the run-up to his first full season in the professional ranks.

There will be plenty of bowlers in Hampshire league cricket who will tell you that Banks was unlucky not to be afforded the same opportunity in the late 1990s.

He wasn't alone. The likes of James Taylor - brother of former Hampshire bowler Billy - were similarly unfortunate.

Now, though, Banks is relishing the chance to see how Williams goes, having seen him take six wickets in this summer's One Day Cup - and experienced playing at some of English cricket's most unforgiving arenas.

Banks won't be rushing to give him advice.

"I'm not one of those parents who stands on the other side of the ground shouting at everyone, whatever sport their children are playing," he says.

"There might have been times when I didn't agree with some of the coaches or the things they were telling him, but he's in that system.

"You can't have coaches telling him one thing and then me telling him something different.

"You've got to let them do their job. I've never really coached him, to be honest.

"He'll tell you that I give him more banter than anything else.

"I just take the mick out of him.

"I always bring up his league hundreds.

"He was out for 95 at Sparsholt once - I've got 18 league hundreds, so I like reminding him of that!

"He says it winds him up when he goes to cricket and everyone asks, "How's your dad? How's Banksy? Is he still playing?"

"He says, 'It's always about you!'."

Although he's probably far too polite to do so, Williams can at least now respond by telling his dad that he now has the one thing he was never given.

That priceless Hampshire contract.

"I was probably around at the wrong time," says Banks.

"When I finished under-19 cricket, Hampshire had Adrian Aymes and Mark Garaway as their wicketkeepers.

"Garaway could have played for any county.

"He was a class act, and obviously Aymes was a class act as well.

"People have said to me over the years that I was unlucky not to get a contract, but I wasn't unlucky in that respect because Hampshire had two amazing cricketers in my position.

"I went away and had a bit of a go at Gloucestershire.

"I played a few games for them, but much to my parents' annoyance, I eventually thought, "I'm not sure I can be bothered with this anymore."

"My mates were going out to work and earning money.

"Gloucestershire weren't saying they were going to offer me a contract, so I decided to go and work.

"I still love cricket now, but I made that decision quite early."

Banks, who is now playing at Paultons, is as well known for his skills as a groundsman as a cricketer. He's also as resilient a character as you're likely to find in league cricket anywhere in the country.

It's a trait that was every much in evidence throughout Williams' debut Metro Bank One Day Cup campaign.

"As a cricketer he has character - he's not shy," says Banks.

"I think that's one of the things Hampshire liked about him during the Metro Bank competition.

"He wasn't scared of stepping up a level.

"Even when he'd been hit around, he was always willing to take the ball again. He never shied away from it. He's very resilient.

"He's had three back-to-back summers now.

"He played here, then went to Australia last winter, and then came back for this season.

"I think he bowled more overs for Hampshire than anyone else this year when you add up the Metro Bank, academy and second XI cricket.

"He's had problems with his toenails, he's had to come off the pitch to get strapped up, all sorts of things.

"But one of the things Hampshire said when they gave him his academy contract was that they loved how robust he was.

"They said, 'We love your resilience because you always pick the ball up and bowl'.

"Obviously, they have to look after him and manage his workload properly.

"Everyone's going to get sore and have aches and pains, but there's a difference between that and being genuinely injured.

"I think he was quite relieved when the summer finished because his body was sore. He was in bits.

"But he's got that resilience on his side."

Williams inability to ever recognise a losing cause was apparent from an early age.

He spent the majority of teenage years at Sparsholt, and Jim Ley, the club's chair of youth cricket, tells The Hawk that Williams' innate sense of positivity rubbed off on his young team-mates.

"I think my overriding memory of Ollie was he was fearless," says Ley.

"He was never bothered about going out to bat in a tricky situation or about bowling against good batters.

"He was quietly confident in his own abilities.

"He was and is just a genuinely nice kid.

"No big ego, no big send offs, just loved his cricket and had an iron-will to win.

"He was never fazed by any situation - just always composed and thinking about the next ball."

Even when being sworn at at Chelmsford, Williams has taken those characteristics into his senior domestic career.

There will be tougher challenges ahead, but he has already proved his mettle by getting his rookie deal - no easy task in modern cricket.

He may well have found himself in the right place at the right time.

"A few years ago, when (Hampshire) were perhaps pushing him more towards being a bowler, he still wanted to be a batsman who bowled," says Banks.

"I said, 'Mate, I promise you now, always be a bowler who bats'.

"Look how many bowlers every county needs - look how many bowlers England use.

"Six-foot-four or six-foot-five quick bowlers have to be looked after.

"There's rotation and there are injuries.

"I think he's got a real opportunity.

"And the good thing now is that he's in the system.

"He's got a contract and I know he'll give it 100 per cent - hopefully he'll be at Hampshire for years to come."