HE took two wickets with his first three balls for Hampshire, including that of Warwickshire captain Ian Bell – but it was not the first time Matt Salisbury has bowled a brilliant first over at The Ageas Bowl.

The 24 year-old trialist soon justified his shock inclusion against Warwickshire last weekend. He had Sam Hain caught behind with his first ball for the county.

Two balls later, he trapped Bell lbw.

It was an opening over that took him back to his second T20 appearance for Essex.

Three years ago, he opened with a wicket maiden against Michael Carberry and James Vince in a south group match at The Ageas Bowl.

“I played against Hampshire a few times for Essex,” he recalls. “One of my finest moments was in a T20 in 2014.

“It was my first year on the staff but we had a lot of injuries and I was thrown straight in. It was the second T20 I’d ever played.”

Essex were restricted to 145-5 but Salisbury responded with 2-23 from his four overs to give his side hope before Vince and Owais Shah scored fifties in an eight-wicket Hampshire win.

“I bowled the first over at Carberry and Vince and got a wicket maiden,” he said. “It was one of my best performances for Essex.”

Salisbury had taken 5-117 on his County Championship debut for Essex against Worcestershire at New Road 12 days earlier, including 4-67 in the second innings.

But after taking 1-304 in his next seven Championship appearances, he was released at the end of the 2015 season (he also took five wickets at 33.6 in six one-day appearances - including 4-55 against Lancashire - as well as ten at 25.6 in eight T20 outings).

He played four games for Suffolk in the Minor Counties Championship (15 wickets at 29.46) during an injury-interrupted 2016, for whom he also took six one-day wickets at 29 apiece earlier this season.

Salisbury has also played a few games for Shenfield CC, the club he first played for as a schoolboy, in the Essex Premier Division this year.

He came to Hampshire’s attention last month, while playing against Charlie Freeston’s twos for Essex.

“Last winter Essex were kind enough to let me train with them, even though I wasn’t part of the squad, and to ask me if I’d like to play as a stand-in when one of their players was injured. It worked out well. I drove straight down and took a few wickets.”

Salisbury, a right-arm seamer whose reverse-swing skills have impressed Hampshire captain George Bailey, took 3-84 in a Second Eleven Championship match and 5-62 in the Trophy game that followed – including the scalps of Will Smith and Brad Taylor for the second time in a few days.

He was taken on trial and responded with 13 wickets at 13.92 in two Second Eleven Championship matches, including match figures of 9-131 against Kent at Polo Farm Sports Club, Canterbury a fortnight ago.

“It’s been a quick turnaround. I was told I was playing against Warwickshire on the first morning,” he said.

“I wasn’t expecting to play, I thought I was coming to train for a couple of days and maybe do some 12th man.”

Salisbury's first 14th first-class appearance was his first for two nearly years.

“I had last season out the game after an injury at the start of the year. But I kept involved and played in New Zealand during the winter.

“I’ve enjoyed my time here and would love to stick around as long as possible. Hopefully I’ll be around for the rest of the season, we’ll see what happens.”

Chelmsford-born Salisbury fulfilled a dream when he made his senior debuts for his home county in all three formats in May 2014.

“To play for Essex is something I always wanted to do, it was great to be able to do that as a local boy living 20 minutes from Chelmsford,” he continues.

Salisbury, who is staying in the Hilton Hotel at The Ageas Bowl, has had no interest from other counties since his Essex release.

He was due to be playing for Suffolk against Buckinghamshire in the Minor Counties Championship before being told he would be opening the bowling for Hampshire alongside Kyle Abbott, who was playing Test cricket at the start of the year.

“I had to tell them (Suffolk) a day or two before that there was a chance I wouldn’t be able to play,” he said.

“I’ve gone from playing a couple of games at weekends and a bit of coaching here and there to suddenly playing a lot of cricket.

“I was unsure what I was going to do and I’m still unsure how much I want to pursue it and where I’m going to pursue it.

“But you can’t plan how things work. It’s been a good month or so.”

Ironically, Salisbury replaced his former Essex teammate Reece Topley against Warwickshire.

Topley was again absent against South Africa A at the weekend, having been given a break to try and regain some confidence after his year out with injury.

“He (Reece) was in the year below me but we played U17 academy games together,” continues Salisbury, who shared the new ball with Brad Wheal and was the pick of Hampshire's bowlers with 4-94 in the 251-run defeat against the tourists.

“I was at uni when he started playing in the first team but we had a couple of years together in the first team.

“He’s a terrific bowler. It’ll be nice to be on the park with him again at some point.”

Salisbury is likely to retain his place when Hampshire return to Championship action against Lancashire at Old Trafford next week, after his role in the innings-and-94-run victory against Warwickshire.

“It was a very good win, especially after being 30-3,” he said. “It took a while to get 20 wickets but we got there in the end.

“It was a great finish. I couldn’t have dreamed it any better. The two wickets in three balls helped me relax and get into the game. After a day-and-a-half watching I was itching to be involved.

“We attacked the stumps a lot more than they did and set slightly more unorthodox fields. Mason [Crane] bowled really well, he held up one end on a dry pitch and us seamers toiled away at the other.”

Salisbury’s former Essex teammates will replace Hampshire at the top of the table if they win their game in hand against third-placed Surrey at Guildford today.

“Essex have a strong up-and-coming side, they’ve made couple of good signings with young guys Nick Browne, Tom Westley and Jamie Porter getting better and better,” he said.

It would be ironic if Salisbury finishes the season as a Championship winner by denying his home county the title.

You never know, he may have the chance to do just that when Hampshire play their penultimate game at home to Essex on September 19.