Deprived of any silverware for 13 years, Hampshire's supporters will hope that reaching this week's C&G Trophy final will see a revival in their on-field fortunes.
Much will undoubtedly be made of the inclusion of star batsman Kevin Pietersen, for his first county game in three months.
Warwickshire are also boosted by the availability of Ashley Giles and Ian Bell, after coach Duncan Fletcher chose not to release England's players to their counties for the semi-finals.
Captain Shane Warne will be missing, but Hampshire can take heart from their previous appearances in finals - when some unlikely heroes have emerged from the shadow of their more illustrious team-mates.
Before Durham's admission to the county scene, Hampshire had been the last of the 17 first-class counties to reach a Lord's final, an albatross that had hung around their necks for many years.
Indeed, the star-studded Hampshire team that won Sunday League titles in 1975, 1978 and 1986 struggled to reach a showpiece final as agonising semi-final defeats became a bitter pill for fans to swallow.
The closest they came was in 1985, when Graham Gooch steered Essex to victory in a NatWest semi-final at Southampton, having lost fewer wickets with the sides level.
Photographic evidence shows Gooch to be fortunate that "third umpire" technology was still a few years away, after he got the benefit of the doubt on a tight run-out call.
But in 1988, with overseas stars Gordon Greenidge and Malcolm Marshall touring England with the West Indies, Hampshire finally got the one-day final monkey off their backs in the Benson & Hedges Cup.
And it was Marshall's replacement Steve Jefferies who stole the honours at Lord's with a breathtaking display of left-arm swing bowling.
 | HAMPSHIRE'S PREVIOUS FINALS 1988: B&H Cup Final
Derbyshire 117 (JE Morris 42, ST Jefferies 5-13); Hampshire 118-3 (RA Smith 38) 1991: NatWest Trophy Final
Surrey 240-5 (GP Thorpe 93, AJ Stewart 61, CA Connor 3-39); Hampshire 243-6 (TC Middleton 78, RA Smith 78) 1992: B&H Cup Final
Hampshire 253-5 (RA Smith 90, VP Terry 41); Kent 212 (MR Benson 59, MD Marshall 3-33, SD Udal 3-67) |
The South African blitzed Derbyshire with 5-13 in 10 overs and set the stage for Robin Smith to bat his way into the England team with a rapid-fire 38 as his side coasted to victory with over 20 overs to spare.
Marshall returned to play a starring role as his county endured two more NatWest semi defeats in 1989 and 1990 - before reaching the final against Surrey in 1991, again in Marshall's absence on Test duty.
Opener Tony Middleton, now Hampshire's academy director, was in the side that day - after Chris Smith's retirement following the semi-final left a vacancy at the top of the order.
"The 1991 final was my first ever NatWest game, although I'd played a fair bit of County Championship and one-day cricket in the other competitions, and I'd been regularly in the side that season," Middleton told BBC Sport.
"We had a few players in and around the England side, like Robin and Chris, so generally I played as soon as anyone was left out - which is why I missed out on some of the big games leading up to the final.
"But it was fairly comfortable for me to come in and play, so it didn't feel like a debut.
"We had no Malcolm Marshall, and we were due to play Surrey in the four days leading up to the final, although it ended in two - and Mark Nicholas had his finger broken by Waqar Younis."
With Nicholas sidelined by the Pakistani paceman, David Gower led the side at Lord's, and Middleton opened his 60-over account by hitting 78 - a score matched by man-of-the-match winner Robin Smith.
|  The final is a fantastic opportunity to make a name for yourself |
But after Smith was run out, it fell to Jon Ayling, a young all-rounder from Portsmouth, to strike some lusty blows to win the match.
"It was the most memorable day of my career - we had a good one-day side then," Middleton remembers.
"We had a couple of match-winners in Robin and David Gower, and most of the rest of us were 26, 27 or 28 and had learnt our trade in county cricket, so we had some experience and were just about at the top of our game.
"We'd come up through the Second XI together, and were very aware of our role in the side. Robin and David were going to win us games on a fairly regular basis, but we all played our part and knew what our jobs were."
Marshall finally made it to Lord's the following year as Hampshire cruised to B&H success in a two-day final against Kent.
Fans have not had a great deal to cheer in the 13 years since then, despite the move from Northlands Road to the Rose Bowl and the acquisition of Warne and other internationals such as Pietersen and John Crawley.
But 2005 has been a year in which they have competed in the top division of both the Championship and the National League at the same time, for the first time - while the C&G campaign included a competition record score in the quarter-finals at The Oval.
So, C&G success on Saturday might convince the doubters that the sun is beginning to shine over the Solent again.
"Shane Warne and team manager Paul Terry have put together a very good side, with a good mix of senior and young players," Middleton explained.
"Warne and Pietersen are world-class players and obviously we'd be a better side with them.
"But the overseas players we've managed to attract as cover, like Shane Watson and Andy Bichel, have been high-quality internationals themselves, who have done a fantastic job.
"From being a mid-table side for a number of years, we've now got what looks like a side which can compete with the best around, so hopefully this is the start of big things to come."
| ROUTE TO THE FINAL |
Spinner and stand-in skipper Shaun Udal, 36, is the sole playing survivor from the 1991 and 1992 finals, but Lord's could be the big stage for one or two of Hampshire's younger stars to shine.
Middleton admitted: "It's a different sort of side to 1991, as we've got a bigger influence of international cricketers - but the younger players are very inexperienced, as opposed to those who have been around a bit.
"I was nervous and apprehensive the night before the game, and in the early morning - but once you get out there, you thrive on the atmosphere.
"When you walk out, 30,000 people will make a lot of noise, and that really lifts you.
"It's a fantastic opportunity to make a name for yourself, which I know, as doing well in the final gave me the chance to go away with the England A side.
"Just playing in front of a big audience with the TV and everyone watching was a big influence on that, so it's up to the players to make an impression.
"There have been lots of semi-finals where we haven't won, but finals have gone pretty well - we've won three out of three - perhaps that's a good sign.
"The most important thing I'd pass on to our players is just to go and enjoy it - hopefully it'll come again but it may not.
"If you've got to make the most of it by enjoying the experience, you'll perform at your best."
MMIX
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