Stowe School sensation Aadi Sharma taking progress in his stride

Young allrounder moving from strength to strength having hit 97 on debut for Bucks 1st XI and a century on debut for Northants 2nd XI

Nestled within the pastoral landscape of Buckinghamshire, there aren’t many more picturesque places providing a cricket education than Stowe School. With director of cricket James Knott at the helm, all bases are covered.

And he has a protégé on his hands. Aadi Sharma, 16, has only just begun studying his A-levels, yet he is already making waves in men’s cricket, excelling with each new challenge, while on the cusp of first-class cricket. If not for pesky administrative procedures, he would have already made his first-team debut for Northamptonshire. 

Having hit more than 1,000 runs and claiming 47 wickets (he is a leggy) for Stowe last season, he went on to make 97 on debut for Bucks 1st XI (agonisingly out lbw), before going on to hit a century on his first appearance for Northants 2nd XI. Performances like that helped him scoop Academy Player of the Season. He also starred for the Midlands in the ECB U17 Super 4s, with the second highest tally of runs in the whole competition, while notching another century against London & East.

On the back of all of this, he was then invited to play in a three-day Young Lions trial/observation match scoring 94 in the first innings. The way he has emphatically raised his game at each new juncture speaks for itself.

^{Sharma scored 116 in Stowe's win against Shrewsbury in the Silk Trophy (supplied)}

Among many of Sharma’s casualties last season was The Cricketer’s own Jim Hindson, who featured for MCC against Stowe in pre-season. Former Notts spin bowler Hindson spoke glowingly of Sharma: “My first four overs were all maidens and then Aadi walked out to the middle and smacked me for six. He looked a man among boys and probably the strongest young player I have seen since Samit Patel at 15 years old.”

High praise indeed, but does Sharma feel the pressure? “I was playing a club game on the Saturday when my dad told me Bucks first-team were a man short [having been picked up by them at 11 years of age] and they wanted me to play on the Sunday. I was just excited, but the best thing was I didn’t have time to process it. I turned up Sunday morning with a bag of clothes and I was ready to play. Luckily, we batted first, so again I didn’t have much time to think about it and just went out there and played.”

Knott picked up the story: “Our most high-profile player has been Ben Duckett and Aadi is definitely the best we’ve had since Ben. They both have similar traits in the way they seem to have lots of time to play the ball – both for spin and pace – in terms of getting into position and using the crease well for the spinners and playing the short ball well from the quicks. He has always hit the ball much harder than his peers which was showcased on his senior debut against MCC where he hit the first ball he faced – a full toss – for six.”

^{Sharma picking up Northamptonshire Academy Player of the Season (supplied)}

Though his numbers are hugely impressive for a player so young, Sharma’s humility is both striking and refreshing, with a maturity and level-headedness that belies his age. His Northants 2nd XI debut came against Notts, boasting the likes of Jake Ball in their ranks. How did Sharma cope with the latest challenge of playing battle-hardened pros?

“It’s different because the concentration is a lot higher with the pace of the ball and the atmosphere around you – you need to be concentrating a lot harder than you would in boys’ cricket. Apart from that, I quite enjoyed being able to test myself against some of the best and I think that was how I went about it. There’s no real pressure on me, it’s more pressure on them because I’m the youngster and they are the established players, so for me it was just trying to go out there and show what I’ve got.”

With Sharma’s foray into men’s cricket, it must be difficult coming back to base camp, but Knott ensures that is not the case.

He said: “We had a chat at the start of this winter and identified areas that Aadi could still take away from school cricket. We spoke about his top score last year of 135, so his new targets are 150 or a double-ton, back-to-back centuries and getting used to scoring more and more runs. Whatever level you’re aiming for requires a large volume of performances to get you there. The target for Aadi is securing a Northants contract and featuring more for their 2nd XI and the Young Lions which will be achieved by continuing to make lots of runs – a habit he can take away from school.

Director of cricket James Knott believes Sharma is the best Stowe have seen since Ben Duckett (supplied)

“He’s captain of the lower-sixth (Year 12) where he is a leader and role model for his team-mates, while also ensuring he is able to bring himself on to bowl too! Although he bowls a lot for school he hasn’t had much chance to showcase this at a higher level and this is something Northants want him to work on.”

Does Sharma see his future as an allrounder?

“I’d like to. I enjoy trying to be in the game as much as I can and bowling means you are always in the game and always in the fight. I enjoy bowling but it’s quite hard to find overs when I go away so it’s definitely something I’ll be working on over the winter,” he said.

Displaying an ethic that will only stand him in good stead, Sharma’s trajectory is one to watch.

The Cricketer would like to thank Durant Cricket for their ongoing support of our schools cricket coverage. For more on Durant Cricket, including booking a site visit, please click here 

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