Warwickshire batsman Sam Hain admits he "learned a lot" on tour with England Lions in the winter - and he is now looking to put that new knowledge into practice in the Royal London One-Day Cup.
The Bears will be looking for more runs from Hain when they launch their Royal London Cup North Group campaign against Yorkshire at Edgbaston on Friday.
The 23-year-old’s career stats in List A cricket are mightily impressive. He has scored 2,335 runs at an average of 57.73 and among his nine centuries in the format is a high-class 144 on his England Lions debut against West Indies A in Coolidge 13 months ago.
I was chatting to Jim Troughton the other day and he recalled that he was playing when Michael Powell and others left and the likes of him, Ian Bell, Ian Westwood and Jonathan Trott were coming through and they had to fill those roles. They did that – now it’s up to us to take the team on again.
Sam Hain
Hain was back on Lions duty in Abu Dhabi and India earlier this year and believes playing in those unfamiliar conditions was a big step forward in his learning curve.
“It was a very good and challenging winter with a lot of new experiences for me,” he said. “The time I spent with the Lions in Abu Dhabi and India, playing with different lads in different climates, was very enjoyable and I learned a lot.
“Playing in India against Indians is tough. I did okay but they are very good at what they do and it was challenging.
In terms of learning, it was absolutely priceless.
“I feel like my game is in a good place in both red and white ball. It is just a case of putting in the performances that I want. My white-ball form last year was okay but I want to keep getting better at that and also find some consistency in red-ball. At the back end of last year I felt it was coming in red-ball. I didn’t get any big hundreds but it was coming so that was exciting to see.”
At 23, Hain is still early in his career, but having made his Bears debut at 18, he has enough experienced already banked to be seen as one of the leaders of this Bears generation.
“The team is changing which is what happens in cricket,” he said. “I was chatting to Jim Troughton the other day and he recalled that he was playing when Michael Powell and others left and the likes of Troughts, Ian Bell, Ian Westwood and Jonathan Trott were coming through and they had to fill those roles. They did that – now it’s up to us to take the team on again.
“You don’t want to put too much pressure on yourself but I know there is a little bit more expectation on me with Trotty’s retirement having left a massive hole. Players have moved on and we have transitioned from a really experienced group of guys to a much younger squad and there is expectation on me to stand up and be a leader. I’m very excited by that.
“You can never know how it’s going to go but I have done everything I can to prepare and am really looking forward to it.”
