Sammy King signs one-year professional contract with Nottinghamshire

The 18-year-old, who has captained the academy for the past two seasons, made his first XI debut against Glamorgan in the 2021 Royal London Cup

Sammy King has signed a one-year professional contract with Nottinghamshire.

The 18-year-old, who has captained the academy for the past two seasons, made his first XI debut in the 2021 Royal London Cup against Glamorgan. He came on as a concussion replacement for Lyndon James and scored 11 runs off 21 deliveries.

For the Under-18s, King, a seam bowling allrounder, scored 577 runs at an average of 32.06 and took 24 wickets at 22.83.

He also captained the Midlands in the 2021 ECB Super 4s competition and scored a half-century for England Young Lions in an intrasquad friendly in September.

Commenting on signing his first professional contract, King said: "To have the chance to continue my development at Notts is hugely exciting for me having come through the ranks at the club.

^{King will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of recent academy graduates like Lyndon James (L) and Liam Patterson-White (R)}

"After training with the senior side at times over the last year especially, I’ve seen first-hand just how high the level is and how small the margin for error can be. It has given me the hunger to continue to improve. To have made my first team debut was a huge step, and I hope I can continue to progress over the next year."

Head coach, Peter Moores, added: "Sam is a player who has shown real capability with bat, with ball and as a leader. We were able to embed him within the first team set up for much of the Royal London Cup, and the progression he made in that small window served to show how high his ceiling is, and how determined he is to succeed as a professional.

"Following the success of the likes of Lyndon James, Joey Evison and Liam Patterson-White, Sammy has a great opportunity to continue his development beyond the academy set-up, and our coaching team will offer him every support in pursuing his ambitions in the game."