After England’s triumph, focus now on Essex

Age 18 Team: England Learning Disability

Has this been one of the most successful summers you’ve ever had?

I would say this summer is right up there with the best I’ve had. It probably is my most successful summer because I’ve been playing pretty well all season with bat and ball. I’ve got promoted (to the Mid-Essex League Premier Division) with my club side and there are loads of other competitions, like T20s, that Rainham are playing in as well. If you add in how it went with England in the Tri-Series, and it’s been a great summer.

So your summer isn’t over just yet then?

No, I’ve still got a quite a bit of cricket to play, even though it’s already August. I also play for Essex and we’re through to the D40 League national final. So overall, I couldn’t really have asked for much more this summer, both for me as an individual, and as a team. Hopefully that continues for the remaining games I have this summer.

Have you played for the Essex disability side for long?

I’ve played for Essex since I was 10 and we’ve been getting better each year, and, for the first time ever, we’ve got to the final. It’s against Hampshire at Arundel Castle on September 10. It’s really exciting for us to have the opportunity and to see how the team has progressed every year.

How much are you looking forward to that final?

I think all the counties want Essex to win because usually, Hampshire win it. But we’ve got to be on it from ball one, basically.

We’ve got to be prepared for Hampshire but I’m really looking forward to it. It should be a great occasion.

We beat Shropshire in the semi-final back on August 6. We scored 229 and I got 110, and then other people in my team chipped in with a few scores.

We bowled them out for 199 with about two overs to go, so it was a really good win. It’s always great to have played your part in a win like that, and hopefully I’ll be in good form again for the final.

You also helped the England Disability team win the INAS Learning Disability Tri-Series in July. How great was it to be a part of that?

It was really good. Except for one game, we pretty much beat everyone quite comfortably and the whole team played really well. It was great to be a part of such a successful series and we really had a great time. This is definitely one of the highlights of my career so far.

When did you first play for England?

I played for England for the first time against Australia in 2015 when I was still only 16 and was the youngest player in the squad. That was an incredible experience; to go out there and play in a series like that, and we won as well.

Was it tricky getting back to normal life after spending time away representing your country?

Considering we’d been playing cricket for two weeks and then staying in a hotel, it took a while to get back to reality but it’s a nice thing to remember. I’ve been on tours before but I’d never been on one in England, where you know that you don’t live that far away and home is only a couple of hours away. It’s a little bit weird but it’s good because all the players are communicating and socialising more with each other, even though we already knew each other really well. Overall, it was a really great experience and it brought everyone closer together.