THERE was a debut for 15-year-old King's Worcester student Seth Essenhigh last week, making him one of the youngest players to play for Worcestershire CCC.

Essenhigh, who has only recently turned 15, is still in secondary school at King's Worcester but is making waves in the local cricket scene. 

The wicket-keeper batsman was selected to pay for the Worcestershire 2XI in their three-day match against South Asian Cricket Academy last week and scored 43 not-out with the bat, which turned out to be the top score for Worcestershire.

Essenhigh regularly turns out for King’s 1st XI, where he has scored consistently and kept brilliantly all year.

He has also featured for the U15s in National Cup Matches. Some of his highlights this year include 87 against Solihull, 44 and 2 catches against Bromsgrove and 52 and 2 stumpings against Cheltenham College.

Cricket certainly isn’t over this year for young star. He represented the Worcestershire Academy against Warwickshire in the ECB Championship last weekend.

He will also attend his final England Bunbury Trial this week, and is also in line to play for the Worcestershire 2XI once more when they play the Australian National Academy Squad and Wales respectively.

"I had a great three days representing the WCCC 2nd XI. I embraced the challenge of going up against an experienced SACA bowling attack on a tricky Stourbridge wicket," said Essenhigh.

"I gained some solid understanding of what it’s like in the professional game by playing with some top-drawer cricketers and returned home wiser than before, after picking the brains of the best.

"It was an honour to represent the WCCC 2nd XI alongside four professional cricketers, and their standards have motivated me even more to become a professional cricketer."

King’s 1st XI coach Mr Gilgrass added: "This was a great day for Seth, stepping up into the realms of men’s professional cricket. I’m sure he’ll learn a huge amount from this experience, and it will whet his appetite to play at this level and higher in the future."

Headmaster Gareth Doodes said: "Seth is a dedicated and committed athlete. He has seized every opportunity to develop his skills and made a remarkable contribution to the sporting life of the School."