THERE was a frustrating sense of what might have been when Reece Topley took the field as 12th man while Hampshire slid into the Specsavers County Championship’s second division.

Topley is yet to bowl a ball for Hampshire after breaking a hand in the first match of a disastrous season that also began with long-term injuries for Fidel Edwards, Chris Wood and Brad Taylor.

Had Topley and Edwards been available it could have been a very different season.

But after only managing to take four wickets on the final day, it is hard to argue with Hampshire’s relegation after two years back in the top flight.

Needing to beat Durham to stay in the top flight following Warwickshire’s 237-run win against Lancashire, Hampshire gave themselves two-and-a-half sessions to take the ten wickets after setting the visitors 296 to win.

But Mason Crane’s lbw dismissal of Keaton Jennings was the only breakthrough that could be mustered for most of the season's final day, until three late consolation wickets delayed the inevitable Durham win, which came with three overs remaining.

Mark Stoneman gloved Liam Dawson to short leg as the shadows lengthened and Crane accounted for Graham Clark and Scott Borthwick before Stokes hit the leg-spinner back down the ground to secure victory.

Hampshire’s spinners did not bowl badly on a wicket that offered plenty of turn, but lacked the zip required to trouble the Durham batsmen on an easy-paced surface.

It began according to plan as Gareth Berg followed Lewis McManus’s 67 with a brisk 36 not out, allowing James Vince to declare midway through the morning session.

Hampshire had a minimum 78 overs to bowl Durham out but it did not help Dawson and Crane that Durham’s top three were all left- handers.

Surrey-bound duo Mark Stoneman (137) and Scott Borthwick (88) were determined to end their Durham careers in style and did so with a valedictory stand of 162 for the second wicket.

With former Durham captain Will Smith the only one of the three twirlies who turned the ball away from the lefties, Hampshire struggled to threaten.

Alas, that has been the way for much of the season. Taking 20 wickets has been too much for such an injury-decimated attack.

As relegation began to sink in, the irony of sending Topley out to field was not lost on Hampshire director of cricket Giles White.

“We looked around this morning for a 12th man and the 11 blokes on the field were the only ones fully fit from the squad we began with, which tells the story of our season,” he said with rueful smile.

“I don’t think we’ve coped with the injuries as well as we might have done.

“Maybe we were a bit thin on the ground in the end with our bowling resources.

“In the last couple of months we’ve got ourselves into positions to win games without the penetration needed to take advantage of those positions.

“Our batting points were very low in the first half of the season but in the second half of the year the team played well for the resources we had.

“They stuck to their task well and it was unfortunate it didn’t pay dividends in the end because they deserved to get something out of the season.

“It’s very disappointing to end up in this situation. We need to get players back fit and we’ll also be looking to recruit quality players.”

It was hoped that Fidel Edwards would be fit for the last two games but will he be back next season.

“I hope so, but we’ve got to make sure he’s fit and back to what he was,” added White, for whom re-signing Ryan McLaren must be a priority.