Fourth Former Vedant Somal was surprised but delighted to be awarded Bedfordshire County Cricketer of the Year 2018 for the U13 age group at a ceremony held last week.
Vedant, who represents the county in matches for both U13 and U14 age groups, told us that he puts it down to the vast amount of hard work he put into training last year. In addition to playing in county matches, he trains with Essex County’s Emerging Players Programme (EPP) and most evenings with his father, who is a cricket coach. Naturally, he also plays for the Bedford School team and so gets even more time in the crease when playing and training at school.
Vedant’s stats speak for themselves. Within the U13 category he was the top run-getter with 372 runs including four 50s and an average of 53.14. He was also the top wicket-taker with 13 wickets and six catches in the field. When his U14 matches are included, this makes him the top run-getter across the whole club with 601 runs including five 50s and the top-wicket taker with 28 wickets.
Vedant also had another surprise at the weekend. While enjoying a trip to trampoline park Bounce in Milton Keynes, he bumped into none other than Old Bedfordian Sir Alastair Cook (98-03)! Despite Alastair being in a rush to leave (having already spent time there with his family), he still made time to have his photo taken with Vedant.