Seb Morgan Returns to Familiar Ground as Middlesex Head to Hampshire

In November 2024, Morgan became the first player from Winchester College to sign a professional county deal while still at the school.

One of an incredibly small number of players to break into the school's first XI while still in his first year at the school, the England under-19 international has been a regular for Middlesex in the Blast this season.

And there will be no shortage of familiar faces watching him take on fellow teen sensation Ben Mayes at the Utilita Bowl tomorrow evening.

Among them will be Paul Gover, his coach at Winchester College and one of the most prolific runscorers in Southern Premier Cricket League (SPCL) history.

"I did my Level Four (coaching award) three years or four years ago and basically, he was the batter I used throughout," says Gover.

"He'll still come back down here when he wants to work on something.

"Last year, he scored 97 against Gloucestershire at Lord's in September.

"The boys had just finished playing football and they were all watching his innings on the live stream.

"The next day I get a phone call, and it's Seb asking if he come in and have a chat with me.

"He arrives, full kit, all the bags, all the bits and pieces and says 'any chance I could have a hit'.

"It was literally Middlesex last game of the season!"

After a while Morgan talks about his innings the previous day, when he had been dismissed just three runs short of a century at the Home of Cricket.

"He says 'I shouldn't have played that shot, really, should I?'

"I asked him how many times he had played it, because it was a reverse sweep that eventually got him out. I said, 'how many runs did you score that up to that point (with the shot)' I asked him.

"He said he had scored three or four boundaries, so I told him he had answered his own question - it wasn't the shot, just the execution."

"I said I'd be really disappointed and gutted if I felt that he'd never get another opportunity to score 100 at Lords - but I'm pretty confident he will."

Morgan is still waiting for those magic three figures.

But he hasn't had to be patient when it has come to first team opportunities at the county.

He has been a regular for the club in both red ball and white ball cricket this summer.

And will arrive at the Utilita having played a key role for Middlesex in this season's Blast.

Whereas qualification is already assured for Hampshire, Morgan's side have no chance of making it into the last eight, having won just two of their nine matches so far.

That, though, won't make Morgan any less motivated to shine against Ben Mayes - a cricketer he has played with for England under-19s and against for Winchester College whenever they have met King Edwards (KES).

"He (Mayes) got 100 against us (Winchester College) last year," says Gover. "It was funny because Ben got Seb out.

"I think we got something like 200 in 40 overs. When Mayes was out for 130, KES had about 160 on the board with 19 overs left.

"And we lost off the last ball.

"Mayes's innings was unbelievable - the lads still talk about it.

"He hit this one shot - I'll never forget it because I was with Keith Barker at the time. He hit this shot and I can only describe it as a reverse pull.

"It went flat for six between mid-wicket and square leg. Barks says to me 'have you ever hit a normal pull as hard as that?'

"I just said 'no!'

"It was incredible."

Equally as impressive has been the manner in which Morgan has adapted to the professional game.

He has already taken 26 wickets at a cost of just 32, as well as scoring 253 runs at an average of 28.

All before turning 19.

"He's probably the best lad I've ever worked with, to be honest," says Gover.

"Is he a batter who bowls or a bowler who bats? I think it's hard to say.

"We always potentially felt that he would end up becoming slightly more of a batter than a bowler.

"If you look at the way things are going at the moment, you would probably say that Middlesex think the opposite.

"But he has so much talent with the bat as well.

"He got 60 up at Old Trafford against Lancashire recently and batted absolutely brilliantly.

"When he's in full flow he's absolutely wonderful to watch, both sides of the wicket. Of course he has one or two little faux pas' that he needs to work on but he's a serious talent.

"In time, in a county set-up, I would think he could bat five or six.

"And if he did make it to England level then he could bat at seven or eight.

"He's that good."

Hampshire will hope he can save his best for another evening.

But there will be plenty at Utilita looking forward to watching the one that got away.