By Graham Hardcastle
Australia Test opener Matthew Renshaw says childhood buddy Joe Root is one of a number of players he looks up to as he bids to cement his place on the international scene.
Queensland left-hander Renshaw, 22, played cricket with Joe and Billy Root on the boundary edge at Abbeydale Park as their fathers played together for Sheffield Collegiate.
But, when Middlesbrough-born Matthew was just six, the Renshaws emigrated to New Zealand and then Australia.
Now, he is back in England and playing cricket on the more competitive side of the boundary rope as Somerset’s overseas player in the Specsavers County Championship.
He scored a superb 112 on day two of their win over Yorkshire at Taunton on Saturday, achieving the rare feat of getting off the mark with a six, reaching 50 with a six and doing likewise to get to his century.
“My dad played with his dad for Sheffield Collegiate, and so we would go down and watch at Abbeydale,” said Renshaw.
“A lot of the kids would play cricket around the boundary and on the outfield afterwards, and Joe and Bill were there all the time.
“If I’m honest, I can’t remember a great deal about it. But what I’ve been told is that I cried a lot when I got out. I still don’t like getting out to be fair.
“I haven’t caught up with Joe in a long time, but he’s had huge success over here with the England side and the captaincy.
“Bill came over and stayed with us when he played club cricket for a couple of years during our summers. So we have a really good relationship between the families.”
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SomersetCCC</a>'s <a href="https://twitter.com/MattRenshaw449?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">MattRenshaw449 is currently the only batsman across theCountyChamp</a> to register a century in more than one innings so far in 2018. Impact. <a href="https://t.co/6Q7OiATbWy">pic.twitter.com/6Q7OiATbWy</a></p>— OptaJim (OptaJim) May 1, 2018
