FCCA Class of 2026: A Season to Remember
The 2026 cricket season has been another remarkable one for players connected with First Class Cricket Academy (FCCA).
From junior cricketers making their first big breakthroughs to players performing in county age-group cricket, Premier League cricket and Second XI cricket, FCCA players have continued to test themselves at increasingly challenging levels.
There have been centuries, five-wicket hauls, hat-tricks, county selections, individual awards and match-winning performances - but perhaps the most pleasing part has been seeing players apply the skills developed through their coaching when the pressure has been at its highest.
Here are just some of the standout achievements from a memorable 2026 season.
Rahul Tangirala - Making His Mark at Second XI Level
One of the outstanding performances of the season came from Rahul Tangirala, who produced a superb 165 against Essex 2nd XI.
Rahul faced 265 balls, struck 20 fours and batted for 336 minutes — an innings that demonstrated concentration, patience and the ability to construct a substantial score against high-quality opposition.
He followed that with 72 against Hampshire 2nd XI, while another highlight of his season was a brilliant 116 in the Bradford League.
Performances at this level represent an important step in a player's development, and Rahul's season was another example of an FCCA player successfully taking his game into high-level senior cricket.
Daniel Burton – Scotland U19 Selection
A hugely significant achievement came for Daniel Burton, who earned selection for Scotland U19s following trials.
Daniel's journey makes the achievement particularly satisfying. Having been released from the pathway as a young player, he continued working on his game and earned his way back through performances and persistence.
The left-arm seamer also featured in the Sussex pathway and bowled in a First-Class warm-up fixture between Sussex and Kent, returning figures of 5 overs for 23 runs. His Scotland U19 selection was a fantastic reward for that continued development.
Ramsay Trainer – Runs When They Mattered Most
Ramsay Trainer enjoyed an exceptional season.
One of the highlights was a magnificent 165 for Sussex U18s against Essex U18s, helping Sussex to a huge 219-run victory.
Earlier in the season, Ramsay had also produced 97 from 114 balls for Horsham, alongside a wicket and a run-out in an eight-wicket victory over Bognor Regis.
But perhaps his most important innings came in the final Sussex Premier League game of the season.
With Horsham one of four teams still facing the possibility of relegation, Ramsay produced a mature 103 not out from 124 balls, including 12 fours.
His innings helped Horsham reach 336/4 before they defeated Three Bridges by 18 runs, securing their Premier League status.
A century under that sort of pressure was a fitting way to finish an outstanding season.
Sathvik Dhulipala – Five Wickets in Five Balls!
There are special performances — and then there are performances you may never see again.
Sathvik Dhulipala produced one of the most extraordinary bowling spells of the FCCA season by taking five wickets in five consecutive balls.
He finished with remarkable figures of 5 wickets for 6 runs from four overs, including a maiden.
And that was only part of an incredible period of cricket.
Sathvik also recorded bowling figures including 4 wickets for 5 runs from five overs, with two maidens, while making a major impact with the bat.
Playing for Three Bridges U13, he scored:
103 retired not out from 55 balls, including 19 fours.
He then followed it with another century:
113 retired not out from 92 balls, including 15 fours.
Two centuries and an extraordinary five-wicket sequence made it a week that will take some beating.
Aadi Das – Runs Across Age Groups
Aadi Das continued to demonstrate his batting ability across different levels of junior cricket.
Representing Surrey U13 against Kent U13, Aadi produced a superb 114 from 106 balls, striking 13 fours.
Earlier in the season he had also been putting together a remarkable sequence in Surrey U15 Tier 1 cricket.
After representing Surrey CAG, Aadi went straight on to play an U15 fixture and scored another half-century — his fourth consecutive fifty at U15 Tier 1 level.
Playing and performing above his age group is a significant challenge, making that consistency particularly impressive.
Rounak Ghosh – Big Hundreds for Surrey
Another FCCA youngster to make his mark in county cricket was Rounak Ghosh.
Rounak struck a superb 116 from 142 balls for Surrey U15 against Kent, including 11 fours and three sixes, as Surrey recorded an 80-run victory.
He then went even bigger.
Against Middlesex, Rounak scored 127 from just 103 balls, with 15 fours and three sixes.
Back-to-back major county performances provided another strong indication of his continued development.
Agnideep Sarkar – Performing With Bat and Ball
Agnideep 'Agni' Sarkar enjoyed success across both junior representative and senior cricket.
One standout all-round performance saw Agni score 68 from 64 balls, including eight fours, before taking 3 wickets for 47 runs from 10 overs.
Earlier in the season, he had produced outstanding bowling figures of 5 wickets for just 10 runs from 8.2 overs, including three maidens.
Agni also stepped into Surrey Premier League cricket, another important milestone for a young FCCA cricketer testing himself in the senior game.
Ben Rouse – Three Centuries in a Row
Scoring one century is special.
Scoring three consecutive centuries is something else entirely.
Ben Rouse had an extraordinary run during U14 Festival cricket for Haywards Heath:
100 not out from 99 balls104 from 115 balls116 not out from 98 balls
That is 320 runs across three consecutive century-making innings.
An exceptional display of consistency and concentration from the FCCA youngster.
Siddhant Kakde – Runs and Wickets
Siddhant Kakde produced one of the outstanding all-round displays of the junior festival season.
Playing for Three Bridges U15 against Horsham, Sid smashed an unbeaten:
107 not out from just 66 balls, including 18 fours.
He then contributed with the ball, taking:
3 wickets for 16 runs from five overs, including a maiden.
Sid later carried that form into representative cricket, scoring an excellent 86 from 102 balls for Sussex U13 against Surrey U13.
A terrific season with both bat and ball.
Freddie Young – Performing an Age Group Up
Playing an age group above your own is a challenge. Freddie Young didn't just step up — he made a major impact.
Playing in the U11 Sussex Festival, Freddie scored:
63 retired not out from 66 balls, including 10 fours.
He then delivered with the ball:
4 wickets for 13 runs from six overs.
A superb all-round performance and another example of a young FCCA player embracing a bigger challenge.
Avni Nagaraja – A Brilliant Season for Surrey
Avni Nagaraja enjoyed an excellent season representing Surrey.
Earlier in the summer, Avni scored 45 from 57 balls, while also contributing a wicket and a catch as Surrey U14 Girls defeated Kent by 107 runs.
She later produced an outstanding 50 from 51 balls in the Girls U14 County One Day Knockout Cup Final against Yorkshire.
Although Surrey were beaten in the final, Avni had again delivered on a major stage.
She then went close to a century with a superb 93 from only 70 balls against Berkshire, striking 15 fours at a strike rate of 132.86.
Surrey went on to score 305/5 and win the match by 136 runs.
Sara Kodilkar – Delivering Under Pressure
Sara Kodilkar produced several outstanding innings during 2026.
Earlier in the season she scored a magnificent 105 not out for Reigate Priory Women in Premier Division cricket.
But one of her most important performances came at the end of the season.
Playing for TMWCC in a must-win match with promotion on the line, her side slipped to 0/2.
Sara responded with an innings of tremendous composure.
She carried her bat for 82 not out from 143 balls, striking 10 fours and helping her team recover to 201/8 from 45 overs.
TMWCC successfully defended the total to secure victory — and promotion to the higher division of the Surrey Championship.
It was a superb example of understanding the match situation and performing when the pressure was greatest.
Harvey Bartholomew – Festival Century
Harvey Bartholomew joined FCCA's growing list of 2026 centurions with a brilliant innings for Horsham U16.
Harvey finished 100 not out from just 75 balls, striking 14 fours and a six.
His century helped Horsham compile a huge 362/5 declared before going on to win by 262 runs.
Daniyal Liaqat and Henry Lawson Make Their Mark
The same period of festival cricket produced strong performances from several FCCA players.
Daniyal Liaqat scored an important 52 from 70 balls for Three Bridges U15 against Horsham.
With the ball, Henry Lawson produced excellent figures of:
6 overs, 13 runs, 4 wickets.
Alongside Siddhant Kakde's 107* and 3/16, it meant four significant performances from FCCA players within the same match.
Nithin – Four-Wicket County Performance
Another excellent bowling performance came from Nithin, who took:
4 wickets for 20 runs from six overs
for Sussex against Hampshire.
It was a spell that helped change the direction of the match and another strong performance at representative level.
Ollie De Havas – Seven-Wicket Haul
Ollie De Havas produced one of the standout bowling performances of the FCCA season with magnificent figures of:
7 wickets for 27 runs.
Later in the season, playing against Worthing, Ollie demonstrated his all-round ability by scoring 39 and taking 4 wickets for 51 runs.
Although East Grinstead did not win that match, Ollie's individual contribution was another excellent performance.
Khush Amin – Two Hat-Tricks in One Match
At just nine years old, Khush Amin produced an extraordinary bowling performance.
Khush finished with:
6 wickets for 9 runs — including TWO hat-tricks in the same match.
A remarkable achievement at any level of cricket, let alone at such a young age.
Dylan Rana – Unbeaten 70
Dylan Rana also enjoyed a memorable senior cricket performance, scoring an unbeaten:
70 not out from 76 balls, including nine fours.
His innings helped Ifield CC 4th XI to a convincing 98-run victory.
Viyan Patel – Batter of the Year
Performances throughout an entire season deserve recognition too.
Congratulations went to Viyan Patel, who was named:
Banstead CC Under 10s Batter of the Year 2026.
A fantastic reward for the hard work and development shown throughout the season.
Curtis Philip – Sunday Academy Player of the Year
Another end-of-season award went to Curtis Philip, who was named:
Sunday Academy Player of the Year 2026.
Another well-deserved recognition of commitment, improvement and performance.
Recognition Beyond the Boundary
The FCCA family also had reasons to celebrate away from individual scorecards.
Nikki received national recognition from the ECB as one of the “53 Women Changing the Game”, recognising her contribution to cricket and the women's and girls' game.
Achievements such as this are an important reminder that developing cricket isn't only about runs and wickets — it is also about the people helping create opportunities for the next generation.
More Than Runs and Wickets
It is easy to look through the 2026 season and focus on the numbers.
113*.107*.105*.103*.100*.
Five wickets in five balls. Two hat-tricks in one match. Seven-wicket and five-wicket hauls.
Those are exceptional achievements.
But at FCCA, development has never simply been about collecting statistics.
What matters is seeing young cricketers learning how to construct an innings, cope with pressure, adapt to different levels, play against older opposition, recover from setbacks and perform when their team needs them.
Some of the most satisfying performances of 2026 came in precisely those circumstances.
Ramsay Trainer making an unbeaten century with Horsham's Premier League status at stake.
Sara Kodilkar carrying her bat after her team had fallen to 0/2 in a promotion-deciding match.
Young players stepping into county cricket, Premier League cricket and higher age groups and showing that they belong.
That is what development looks like.
Another Proud Year for FCCA
The achievements highlighted here represent players at different stages of their cricketing journeys.
For some, 2026 brought a first major score or award.
For others, it meant county representation, stepping into senior Premier League cricket or performing against Second XI opposition.
Every journey is different, and there will inevitably be good days, difficult days and setbacks along the way.
The objective remains the same: help every player become a better cricketer and give them the technical skills, understanding, confidence and work ethic to perform at the highest level their ability can take them.
Congratulations to all our FCCA players on their achievements throughout the 2026 season.
The hard work continues.
First Class Cricket Academy
First Class Coaching. First Class Results.
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