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Meet the Academy – Sam Price
Sam Price is an opening right-handed batter who comes from Chew Valley and is a pupil at Bechen Cliff School in Bath.
The 14-year-old, who scored his maiden century in 2023 when he hit an unbeaten 110 against Cornwall, explained how he first got into cricket.
“My Dad took me down to my local club at Stanton Drew when I was about five and I loved it,” he said when we spoke to him earlier this week. “From then on I’ve just stuck with it. Now I play for Bath Cricket Club where I’ve been since I was 10.
“I started playing for Somerset with the Under 10s and have played up through the age groups. When I was 10 and 11, I was involved with the early Pathway and then Under 12s. It was the first games after Covid, which was really exciting for me.
“When I played for the Under 13s I got my first century against Cornwall and then the following winter I went out to Sri Lanka with the Academy, which was a great experience.
“I got to play on some very different wickets over there and faced lots of spinners, and I got to develop my game against them. I came back a different player to when I went out, which was really good.”
What does it mean to Sam to join the Academy?
“Joining the Academy is what I’ve been working towards for the last couple of years but I wasn’t really expecting to get onto it so soon. However, I had a talk with Matt Drakeley and he told me I was joining the Academy, which was a real surprise.
“Now it’s about looking forward and trying to progress as far as possible. My aim now is to become a Somerset professional cricketer.
“I think that being on the Academy will really develop me as a cricketer and I’ll get to train and play alongside the older lads who will teach me things which will help me to develop as a person as well. Now I’m on the Academy I want to do as much as I can.
“I can’t thank my parents enough because they really do support me and drive me to wherever I’m playing and pick me up after the Academy sessions, so its a big commitment.”
Sam discussed his his 2024 season.
“My best innings last season was in the two-day game against Devon when I I made 82 not out on a tricky wicket at Taunton School. I had a long time to bat and we still had to get about 200 runs but we knuckled down and worked really hard and we won the game.
“At Bath, I played in 14 games which was a mixture of Second and Thirds and it was really cool being around some of the older players because you can learn a lot. It really challenged me last year so I’m looking forward to this coming summer.”
Sam added: “My ultimate dream is to play Test Match or ODI cricket for England. That’s my top goal!”
