Teenage batter Hamza Shaikh earns two-year contract extension with Warwickshire

The 16-year-old made four first-team appearances in 2022, scoring 62 runs in four Royal London Cup matches

Teenage batter Hamza Shaikh has signed a two-year contract extension with Warwickshire, which will keep him at Edgbaston until at least the end of the 2025 season.

The 16-year-old, who put pen to paper on his first professional deal in June 2022, made four first-team appearances last season. He scored 62 runs in four Royal London Cup outings.

Shaikh also made eight 2nd XI appearances, scoring 115 runs and taking one wicket in the Championship and a further 39 runs in three T20s.

Commenting on his contract extension, Shaikh, who will spend time training in Mumbai this winter, said: "It's all happened so quickly. Warwickshire is my home club so making my debut earlier this year was proper dream-come-true stuff.

^{Paul Fabrace believes Shaikh could push for regular first-team appearances next season [Michael Steele/Getty Images]}

"I'm grateful the coaches have faith in me, and I really want to do them proud, get my head down and keep playing as well as possible."

Director of cricket, Paul Farbrace, added: "Hamza has incredible potential. I've been impressed with the way his game is developing, he's committed and wants to learn. He scored more than 1,000 runs last season for the Warwickshire pathway.

"He's been in the system with us since the Under-10s team and his family have been fantastic in supporting his journey. I'm hopeful we can help him make a long, successful career in cricket with us.

"He's played a part in the Royal London Cup this season, and been unlucky not to score more runs, and there's no reason why he can't push for more first-team starts across other formats next season."