Sam Northeast first came to prominence when as a 13-year-old he scored 19 hundreds in a term, and he continued that form at Harrow where he was in the 1st XI at the age of 14 and more than held his own. Such was his talent that Kent sent coaches to work with him rather than asking him to travel to Canterbury, and he picked up a string of national awards, including a Bunbury scholarship.

An allround sportsman, he is a national schools rackets champion, a county squash player and cross-country runner, and good enough at football and rugby to have been offered county trials.

In 2005 he made his Kent 2nd XI debut against Durham and scored 96, as well as playing for England Under-15s. In 2006 he was included in a strong Getty XI against the touring Sri Lankans, and he cracked 62.

He enjoyed an excellent tri-series in Sri Lanka in 2007 - putting on 152 with Billy Godleman in one of the matches - and was part of England's Under-19 World Cup squad in 2008
Cricinfo staff February 2008

• Wakely to lead England Under-19 at World Cup (Oct 1, 2007)
  
• Dawson stars for England Under-19 (Feb 16, 2007)
  
• England rout hosts Malaysia (Jan 27, 2007)
  
• Rising star: Sam Northeast (Jul 7, 2006)
  
• Northeast underlines his class (May 3, 2006)
  

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Feb 13, 2008 Sam Northeast profile picture © Getty Images

Aug 20, 2007 Sam Northeast portrait © Getty Images

Jul 2, 2006 The appeal was confident but Sam Northeast survived © Martin Williamson

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