Heinz Southern Districts junior Sam Pepper blasts 182

A Heinz Southern Districts junior has produced one of the best individual displays of the season before making his senior debut just hours later. Here’s what happened.

When Sam Pepper’s name was read out on Thursday night for his Heinz Southern Districts senior debut, a few in the room questioned who the young man was.

But by the time he strolled to the crease on Saturday afternoon, the entire club was fully aware of his exploits.

The 16-year-old left-hander made a name for himself ahead of senior debut by carving out a scintillating 182 before midday in the Dandenong District Under-16s competition.

After completing the customary junior retirement, Pepper returned to the middle with his side nine down.

What happened next was sheer entertainment.

“I think they retire on 60 or 70 these days but he’s come back in when they were nine down and they put on about 170 for the last wicket with a kid that was injured,” Cobras president Andrew Dandridge recalled.

“He (the injured teammate) probably shouldn’t have been playing but due to numbers he had to make himself available, he could hardly run so Sam just sat there and whacked them to the boundary line time and time again.”

Sam Pepper

Word spread quickly as the arrival for senior matches overlapped Pepper’s sparkling finish.

“It was pretty incredible,” Dandridge said.

“Most of the senior guys were getting down for their game at 11 and saw the last bit of it when he was on about 150 and they all thought ‘what is actually happening here’.

“He just kept going, the young fella, there was about an over and a half to go, he said he’s got to try and get 200, there’s no point getting 180.

“It was an incredible effort and innings, to understate it.”

Dandridge and those involved in the junior club were excited to see Pepper return to the club after he was wearing a rival clubs’ threads last summer.

“Last year we couldn’t get an under-16s up, so he unfortunately spent a year at North Dandy, but thankfully for us he is back,” he said.

“It was pretty funny on Thursday night he got picked for his first senior game and there were a couple of blokes at the club that were going ‘who’s this?’ but by the time seniors were about to start, they knew exactly who he was.

“It’s an amazing performance – hundreds are hard to get no matter what grade you play, so to get 180 is a pretty big achievement.”

Pepper’s 182 helped his side to an eye-opening total of 417 off just 61.4 overs.