James Rew: Somerset's teenage wicketkeeper 'ridiculously' good, says coach
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Wicketkeeper-batter James Rew is the top run scorer in Division One this season, hitting five centuries
Somerset's teenage wicketkeeper James Rew has an "incredibly bright future" says head coach Jason Kerr, after he became the club's youngest first-class double centurion.
The 19-year-old extended his batting score to 221 on the second day of their match against Hampshire at Taunton.
Rew now has five Championship centuries this year from five games and is the leading run-scorer in Division One.
"Right now he's ridiculously good," Kerr told BBC Radio Bristol.
"I guess there's a lot of things that people don't see. What you see in the park is the runs obviously - to score 500 this year, to be the leading run-scorer in Division One, he's having an outstanding summer.
"But more importantly for me is his character. He's incredibly level-headed, every game seems like it's his first opportunity to play, he respects the game, he's got an incredibly bright future.
"He's been the mainstay of our batting and as a 19-year-old that's keeping wicket - that's one thing that's not talked about is how well he's clubbed the ball this summer as well."
Rew made his first-class debut for the county last summer and scored a half-century in that match, followed by a century against Essex the following game.
The last two Somerset batters to score centuries as teenagers were Marcus Trescothick and James Hildreth, and Kerr said Rew "certainly" has the same quality.
"I think it's important we don't get carried away as well. But I've never seen a young player start their career so well," Kerr added.
"He came into the side last year, took to it like a duck to water, scored an incredible half-century on debut when we were under pressure, got 100 at Essex on a good wicket and has played performances when we've been under pressure.
"If you look at some of the innings this year they've been phenomenal, and long may it continue."
The left-hander is already an England Under-19 and Lions-level player, and Kerr added he hoped a senior call-up would not be too far away.
"He'll have some decisions to make moving forward and I guess one of the challenges for us is actually how far can he go as an individual, how many formats can he play and hopefully we'll see him in an England shirt sooner rather than later," Kerr continued.
'Take each game as it comes'
Rew said it was "remarkable" to be the top scorer in the division and said the secret to his success so far is trying to bat for long periods of time.
"I would not have expected that at all at the start of the season. I try and take every game as it comes and keep focussing on trying to put a big total on the board for Somerset here in this game," he said.
"When I went in [on day two] it was a challenging situation and I think I was 19 off my first 60 balls or something.
"But then Kasey [Aldridge] came in and took a bit of pressure off me and made it easier for me to score. But definitely at the start my aim was just trying to face balls and really get into it."