A FORMER Wokingham CC youngster has been hailed as ‘India’s ready-made replacement’ for Sachin Tendulkar after hitting the third highest cricket score ever last week.

Prithvi Shaw, 14, amassed an incredible 546 runs off 330 balls in the Harris Shield, the same Mumbai tournament that propelled Tendulkar into the limelight 25 years ago.

His knock - the highest ever by an Indian - included 85 fours and five sixes and came days after Tendulkar officially retired from cricket.

Amazingly, it also came during the same year that he played for Wokingham in the Thames Valley League.

The talented youngster was recommended the club by former county cricketer Julian Wood, who runs his own academy in Berkshire and had first spotted Shaw a number of years ago.

It was little surprise that he soon found himself in the first team, but more surprising was the fact he only lasted a few weeks.

He was unable to carve out any big knocks in TVL Division One and, as Wokingham manager Dan Reddyhough explains, there were various other factors he had to contend with.

“It was a difficult time at the club. There were lots of changes at the start of the season and maybe he was one change too many,” he said.

“He definitely would have held his own over the course of the season but we didn’t want to damage his confidence and we were also mindful that he was only with us for half a year so we wanted a settled side.” Nevertheless, despite failing to fire for the 1sts, Reddyhough saw enough of Shaw in the 2nds and the nets to spot his undoubted potential.

“The first time I saw him I remember him playing four shots and three of them were jaw on the floor shots, just fantastic,” he recalls.

“He’s not very tall but he is quite stocky, has incredible power and his timing was excellent. It was clear that he loved the game. It’s astonishing what he has done but not really surprising.

“It’s a bit frustrating that he didn’t get the knock in the 1sts that would have given him the confidence to go on, but it just didn’t quite click. We wondered if it was too much too soon, we didn’t want to completely destroy his confidence.

“There were a number of factors why it didn’t quite click but natural ability was not one of them.” Wood himself has said if ‘he keeps up the work, in five years he will arguably be the best batsman in the world’, and Reddyhough has no doubt he can go a long way.

“He clearly had excellent timing, a full range of shots and great power for a young lad. I can see him developing very quickly,” he commented.

“The great thing about him was he was a lovely lad, quite happy to chip in. He wasn’t a show pony or anything like that, he is just a youngster trying to do what he loves.” After leaving Wokingham, Shaw went on to play for Gloucestershire 2nds, who play just a level below the county leagues.

And while a return to Sadler’s End may now seem unlikely, Reddyhough did not rule it out, saying: “We have kept in touch with him and there might be something in the future, but we are not sure what his plans are.” The only two higher scores by a batsman in one innings in the history of cricket are 628no by Arthur Collins in 1899 and 566 by Charles Eady in 1901.

l JACK Turner has been named as the new captain of Wokingham Cricket Club’s first team.

The top-order batsman replaces Ryan Pogson, who has left the country to work overseas.

First-team manager and club captain Dan Reddyhough said: “Jack has had a few good years at the club and he is really looking forward to taking over the reins.”