Dominic Sibley      

Dominic Sibley is a prodigious talent who developed through the Surrey youth system while at Whitgift School on a sports scholarship. His first XI debut came at the end of the 2013 season and in just his third first-class match, against Yorkshire at The Oval, he became the youngest player to make a double century in the County Championship. At just 15 he made his Surrey 2nd XI debut, scoring 37 against Sussex at Horsham. That summer he made a double century for his club side, Ashtead. For the next two seasons he developed under the tutelage of Surrey academy director Gareth Townsend. He was selected for England Under-19s tour of South Africa in the winter of 2012-13 and made a century in the second Youth Test. Back in Britain he made no major impact for Surrey 2nd XI, scoring three half-centuries in 2013. But his talent was deemed worthy of a first XI debut.

Sibley's bow came in a Yorkshire Bank 40 against Essex at the The Oval at the start of August. It was memorable for the wrong reason as was stretchered off with a badly gashed knee having dived to make his ground and got his pad stuck in the ground. The injury ruled him out of England Under-19s tri-series but he returned to the Surrey first team at the end of the month, making a duck against Warwickshire at Edgbaston. Again, talent alone gave him the chance of a first-class debut. Instead of returning for his final year at Whitgift, he played the final three matches of the 2013 season. After failures against Somerset at Taunton and then back at Edgbaston, he etched his name into the record books with 242 against Yorkshire at The Oval. It was the highest maiden century for Surrey and the second-youngest double century by an Englishman in first-class cricket, only WG Grace being younger.

Amid the gloom of Surrey's relegation, Sibley was a rare source of pride. Much, possibly too much, was expected of him in 2014, when he was still aged just 18. He could only manage 156 runs at 15.60 apiece in six games before returning to the second eleven. But few at the club doubted that he would return and prove that his innings against Yorkshire was no one-off.
ESPNcricinfo staff