Sam Northeast is a right-handed batter who plays for Glamorgan County Cricket Club in the English County Championship . He made first-class cricket history on July 23, 2022 by becoming the first player after Brian Lara to score more than 400 runs in a single innings. 

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Sam Alexander Northeast was born on October 16, 1989 in Ashford, Kent. From a young age, Northeast was destined for larger things. When he was only 13 years old, he drew everyone’s attention by scoring 19 hundreds in a single year. Kent made sure he was well taken care of. 

He has long been touted as the “best uncapped player in England”. Northeast hit 96 against Durham in his Kent Second XI debut in 2005. He was chosen for England’s U15 and U19 squads as the runs continued. He also competed for England’s U-19 team in the 2008 World Cup.

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Northeast’s first few years at Kent were ups and downs. His first first class hundred, after making his debut in 2007, came at the end of 2009. By 2010, he had established himself, but shortly after, he lost his spot and returned to the Second XI. Northeast improved as a batsman in 2012, hitting a lot of runs and making it back to the First XI. He amassed 1400 runs across all formats and won the “Kent Batsman of the Year” award.

Kent showed their trust in Northeast by appointing him as their captain for all competitions for 2016 in place of Rob Key, a long-serving captain and mentor. He returned their trust with a barrage of runs, winning accolades from everyone. 

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Northeast  couldn’t get Kent promoted to Division One despite his barrage of runs. With his desire to play top-tier cricket growing and Kent failing to satisfy it, Northeast made the decision to leave and joined forces with Hampshire. It was one of the biggest signings of the 2018 season. He only scored 451 runs in the Championship during his first season at Hampshire, but he bounced back to score 969 runs in 2019, helping his new team place third in Division One.

He scripted history against Leicestershire when he scored an undefeated 410 off 450 deliveries. He is the ninth batter overall to score 400 runs in a test match. Northeast hammered 45 fours and three sixes en route to his 410* in the first innings. The 32-year-old also became the first T20 cricketer to score a quadruple century in first-class cricket. It was also the biggest partnership for any wicket in county history. Northeast and Chris Cooke (191*) together scored 461 runs for the sixth wicket. 

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When it comes to sports, Northeast is similar to AB de Villiers, having many skills outside of cricket. He had won the national school championship in rackets, was a county cross-country runner and squash player, and was good enough at football and rugby to have received county tryouts.