Hampshire: Acting captain Will Smith hopeful of another 'great escape'

Will Smith is Hampshire acting four-day captain in the absence of James Vince

Will Smith believes Hampshire can pull off another "great escape" despite being left adrift at the bottom of County Championship Division One.

Their innings defeat by Surrey left Hampshire 23 points from the safety of seventh place with six games left.

Hampshire required a late revival to avoid relegation last season and Smith is confident of a repeat performance.

"We've got six games left in the season as we'll approach every one of those as winnable," he told BBC Radio Solent.

"We've just got to take the positives really and make sure we keep fighting.

Acting four-day captain Smith added: "This point last year, we'd won one and lost five. This year, we've won one and lost three, so in all intents and purposes we're actually ahead of the game.

"We don't want another great escape, but we know we're going in the right direction.

"We've been hard to beat this year and we've just got to keep maintaining and believing that, which I know the guys do."