ROYAL Grammar School student Aatish Anthathi has won the Bucks County Cricket Pathway of the Year award and the boys Under 14s Player of the Year award for the 2019 season.

Anthathi is a Year 10 student at the High Wycombe-based school and received the awards from Tom Helm – a current Middlesex and Birmingham Phoenix player and former junior Bucks cricketer.

The young star scored nearly 1,000 runs for Bucks U14s in 18 innings with five centuries and a highest score of 150 not out. He scored more than 2,000 runs in the season including all forms of cricket for school, club and county.

He has hit more than 80 sixes and 142 boundaries, and he has a bating strike rate of more than 150.

Anthathi also plays for Surrey in his age group and performed well in games last season.

He is a right-handed opening batsman and known in cricketing circles for his power hitting skills. His batting ability has been praised by many coaches and opposition alike.

Steve Richardson is the Bucks boys U14s coach and said: “When this boy comes to bat all coaches and opposition parents take to their seats to watch him play as he can hit the ball longer than most of us.”

Jason Rance is the Head Coach at Bucks Cricket and added: “Aatish is constantly improving and I expect big things in the future from this lad.

“I witnessed his innings of 150 not out at the Taunton Cricket Festival and he smashed the ball everywhere.”

Rich Hudson is the Managing Director of Bucks Cricket. He commented: “Aatish was a deserving winner of the overall Pathway of the Year award.

“He had a remarkable season scoring 950 runs at an average of over 50. His tally of four centuries is the most by an age group player within a season that we have on record.

“It was not only the volume of runs he scored but often the destructive nature of his batting. His 150 not out off 77 balls to see Bucks U14s to victory against Oxfordshire was a real stand out.

“We’re looking forward to supporting Aatish to keep on developing his all-round game as the challenges increase to push further through the age groups as well as training and playing for Surrey in 2020.”

The last junior Bucks player to have passed the 900-runs mark for the season was Saif Zaib at U12s level. He is currently playing professional cricket for Northamptonshire.

Anthathi is currently training hard for the U15s Banbury Cricket Festival in August of 2020.