James Hildreth: can Millfield provide another world-class sportsperson?

In the debate that is beginning as to whether Andrew Strauss should abandon England for a while (or perhaps England abandon Strauss), and go back to his county to seek some return to form, West Country names keep cropping up. Is Marcus Trescothick ready for a call-up, some ask? Well, I'd look elsewhere in the Somerset top order and James Hildreth is a young man very much on form.

Just yesterday, this right-hand batsman, still only 22 years old, with a First-class average of 40.39, struck a sweet 163 in Somerset's match against Leicestershire. That he was out off the bowling of Stuart Broad, is proof that The Googly is keeping a close eye on emerging cricketers these days!

Young James is a product of Millfield School - one of England's renowned breeding grounds of international sportsmen and women. The Olympic gold-medallist Mary Rand spent her schooldays there, as did swimmers Duncan Goodhew and Mark Foster. The playing-fields nurtured the talents of legendary rugby-players Gareth Edwards and JPR (so famous you hardly need to add the Williams to his name), and cricketers Ben Hollioake and Simon Jones ruled the nets and wickets in their learning years.

Hildreth could indeed be another name to hit the honours board. As a school-boy he represented England through his age groups, and went to Bangladesh in 2003-04 for the Under-19s World Cup. A winner of the NBC Denis Compton Award in 2003, 04, and 05, he caught the eye of many cricket fans in a cameo appearance as a substitute at Lord's in the first Ashes Test of 2005 when he took a catch off Matthew Hoggard's bowling to see Ponting walk on 42. That's not a bad way to dip a toe into Test cricket.

For Somerset, in just his second match, Hildreth hit a ton and last year in Taunton, against Northamptonshire, he made a mammoth 227 not out as Somerset raced to 675 for 5 - and obviously won the match.

If this all-round sportsman, who has represented West of England at hockey, South of England at tennis and squash, is not featuring as a very large blip indeed on the England selectors' radar, I would be very, very surprised.

[Image: Getty] [mimitig]