The objective of every coach in every sport is to improve their players, give them the platform to fulfil their potential and watch them grow.

When Sam Trego took on the role of cricket coach to an enthusiastic five year-old with a batting dream, his greatest hope would be to see that youngster develop into a player who loved the game and played it in the right manner.

Tommi Davies is reaching those goals and, ten years after their journey together begun, he has been called up to the Somerset U15 squad for a tour of Sri Lanka in early February.

Sam and Tommi worked together all the way up to Covid, had a brief pause when Tommi was transitioning to Kings College, but are now back in the nets to prepare for the adventure in South Asia.

“It’s been great working with Tommi this winter,” said Trego. “We’ve been working a lot on his batting and I’ve seen huge improvements session by session.

“Tommi, like all young cricketers nowadays, can play 360 degrees of a cricket pitch, but he’s also realised to play those shots, he needs to tighten up his defensive side of the game.

“Tommi is a talent and he’ll bring excitement to the Somerset U15s team. He’s got all the shots as a batsman but he’s got to become better in his defensive set up and he knows that, and that will be something we will work on before he flies out to Sri Lanka.

“This is one of the toughest tours you’ll face as a young cricketer. I’ve coached other boys that have headed out to Sri Lanka and you’ve got to deal with the change in climate for one, and then, on the cricket pitch, you do face a lot of spin bowling.

“He will learn a lot about his game as a batsman and in very alien conditions to what we are used to here in England. A lot of spin will be bowled at him but with his skills and technique, he’ll be able to overcome these hurdles and ultimately come back with some great knowledge about the game.

“Any pre-season cricket before our summer starts helps any cricketer, so that’s a big plus for Tommi. Also being in a touring squad in a foreign country is completely different to anything Tommi has experienced, so that will certainly help him along his cricketing journey.”