Cricket boss confident of review

The revamp would make it the second largest Test ground in the country

Hampshire chairman Rod Bransgrove said the club has nothing to fear from a judicial review into the proposed new hotel at The Rose Bowl.

Local hoteliers have cited Eastleigh Borough Council's £32m investment as "unfair competition at the excuse of the taxpayer", and took legal action.

He said the club was responding to the charges but did not believe there is anything wrong with the arrangement.

The Rose Bowl plans to have a 175-bedroom hotel as part of a £48m revamp.

'Heavy rain'

Mr Bransgrove told BBC Radio Solent that the club was responding to the charges.

The consortium which asked for a review is made up of Meridian, Shire and Macdonald Hotels, which all operate locally.

The revamp of the west end venue will make it the second largest Test ground in the country.

"We don't believe there's anything wrong with the arrangement we have with Eastleigh Borough Council," Mr Bransgrove said.

"I think it's a robust arrangement and we will continue to finish off all the construction contracts with a view to start as soon as we can."

Mr Bransgrove said that the club was working on the basis that work will be on schedule, ahead of the first test match planned at the Rose Bowl in 2011.

He added: "If that changes then we'll be working on a fall-back arrangement whereby we can still produce all the resources we need to stage the Test match but without the hotel being finally finished."

200 jobs

The chairman also confirmed that two new stands, currently in the early stages of construction, will be ready for the start of the 2010 home fixtures in May.

But he added that the recent bad weather had not delayed the £500,000 drainage project, currently being installed on the outfield.

"The heavy rains have put us back a bit, but they have validated the system and we have had no surface water around here, it has all disappeared completely," he said.

"At least we don't have to worry about whether or not it works."

Eastleigh Borough Council said it was assessing the challenge and taking legal advice before deciding what to do.

It has said that the project will create 200 jobs and that the cost will have no impact on taxpayers.