As Thomas Rew reached the edge of the field he was greeted by his elder brother James and they shared the warmest of embraces – an open show of affection, Rew says, saved for “special occasions”. That day, 8 August 2025, more than ticked that box.
Rew had bathed in the Somerset sunshine that Friday and the generous applause of a Taunton crowd treated to their first proper glimpse of a precocious talent. They had heard the whispers since his early teens: Rew was a first XI, if not international, banker and the 17-year-old’s unbeaten 84 from 81 balls had just steered his side to a white-ball victory against Durham. “It was a special feeling to walk off that pitch with the whole County Ground behind us,” Rew says.
