Sam Pearce is a student at Cardiff Met and captain of the cricket team. He regularly is the opening batsman and has been described as one of the rare breed of leg spinners in the sport.
Leg spin is a type of spin bowling in cricket. A leg spinner bowls right-arm with a wrist spin action, causing the ball to spin from right to left in the cricket pitch when the ball bounces — strategically away from the leg side of a right-handed batsman.
“When I started to get into sport in about 2005, England was playing Australia in the Ashes Series,” Pearce said. “It was one of the biggest series of all-time and everyone had to stop to watch, including me. After seeing that, cricket was the sport I wanted to play.”
Among the many teams in which he has competed, Pearce has played with Bridgend Town in the South Wales Premier League and has represented Glamorgan’s Second XI in English County cricket.
“It’s a great sport to play and get to travel the world with,” Pearce said. “When I was age 15, I realized it could become a career.”
Pearce has become a well-recognized, world-class cricketer with numerous international competitions, most recently in Abu Dhabi, India.
“Being offered to play in India is something you can’t turn down,” Pearce said. “The intensity was high and definitely will help me progress to becoming a better player. I learned from different coaches and the competition.”
One of the top prospects in Wales and in Britain, Pearce is set to embark on a professional cricket career.
“Sam is a very experienced, talented and level-headed player,” Cardiff Met head coach Mark O’Leary said. “His game play is just exceptional. I see players that you know has what it takes to go all the way. Sam is one of those players.”
Pearce’s feature for our Transatlantic Storytelling documentary is being produced by Dylan Thompson and Olivia Jansen.
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