THIS time two years ago Alfie Ogborne was working for a builder and any hopes of ever fulfilling his dream of becoming a professional cricketer and playing for Somerset seemed a very long way off.
Since then a great deal has happened in the 20 year old’s life. Alfie joined Bridgwater Cricket Club at the start of 2022 where he was given the chance to open the bowling and show what he could do. He did just that on the strength of which he was selected to play for Somerset Seconds, and is now looking forward to his second season as a full time professional
The left arm bowler said: “I am very excited about the start of the new season and think I have progressed really well this winter. I have had a lot of support from all of the coaches and the players at the club and done a lot of batting pre-season which has filled me with confidence and I’m ready to go.”
Earlier in the spring Alfie spent time in Sri Lanka as well as going with the rest of the squad to Abu Dhabi.
He said: “What a privilege firstly to be able to go on those trips - in Sri Lanka there was only seven players along with head coach Jason and Shane Burger which was a great opportunity and we all progressed because the programmes were tailored to our own individual needs.
“Then we went out to Abu Dhabi and I got to take four wickets in one game . I haven’t had too much experience in the T20 but the value of the left armer swinging the ball away from the bat is something I have been working on this winter. The fact that I could go out there and do that made me really happy and getting some reward was a really nice feeling.
“One thing about me that everyone knows is my passion for Somerset is always there and I am always desperate to win for this club and put everything on the line to make sure we can.
“With the development and progress that I have made this winter I am in a fighting place to be pushing for the first team and in my eyes in all three formats, but I also know that we have got some exceptional bowlers who are going to take some replacing.
Alfie missed the latter part of last season through injury so what has he done over the winter to try to make sure that doesn’t happen again?
“I have put on five kilos of lean muscle so I’d like to think that I'm going to be fit to play the whole season. I have never had a serious injury in my life so it came as a bit of a shock. However I got cracking early doors and worked hard in the gym knowing that I had to get stronger like rest of the lads and give myself the best opportunity.”
Alfie ended up by saying: “My goal for as long as I can remember was to play for Somerset and even when times got really hard and nobody was considering me becoming a professional cricketer I just kept going and that’s been the story of my career so far. People look at me and think I’m average but as soon as I get that chance I always take it and I just want to keep on doing that for Somerset and hopefully one day for my country as well- so I have just got to keep on going and keep pushing.”