Travis Head, who topped the ECB Southern Premier League batting charts for Ventnor ten years ago, powered Australia to ICC Cricket World Cup glory with a superb century against hosts India in front of more than 110,00 home fans and millions of tv viewers across the globe.
He made a historic 137, helping Australia win its sixth World Cup at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India's 240 being overhauled by six wickets with 42 balls to spare.
Just shy of his 30th birthday, left hander Travis, who played for Ventnor in 2013, earlier caught out India's captain, Rohit Sharma.
Head was part of the first Ageas Bowl International Cricket Academy intake that summer, when he made 968 runs at 64.5 for the island club, 733 of them in the Premier League.
And it didn’t take the club too long to realise they had a tasty prospect when the 19-year-old Head stepped off the Red Funnel ferry in 2013.
“I remember him coming out to bat for the first time and he hit a full toss from a spinner over mid-wicket after maybe three or four balls,” says former teammate Robert Snell. “This ball just went like a tracer bullet and it went miles.
“He was just a phenomenal cricketer but a great guy too. He was very confident in his own ability, that was clear, but he had a down to earth quality to him.
“He was fun to be around – and definitely the best overseas player we’ve ever had.
“We had to play our league games at Newclose [the home of Isle of Wight cricket] that season, but he did play at Steephill. The only difference was that instead of smashing balls into the Solent, he was hitting them into a field of alpacas instead.”
Head revealed the impact that the stint had on his career.
“I was living in Southampton at the time but the Ventnor boys looked after me. Just living away from home and having to do stuff on your own for the first time is a big thing when you’re a young guy.
“You know when you’re an overseas players that there are expectations placed on you – you have to score runs and you have to win games of cricket for your side.”
He certainly did that, scoring an unbeaten 142 against Bashley (Rydal) alongside six fifty-plus scores, and 108 against Hambledon in the T20.
He made a historic 137, helping Australia win its sixth World Cup at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India's 240 being overhauled by six wickets with 42 balls to spare.
Just shy of his 30th birthday, left hander Travis, who played for Ventnor in 2013, earlier caught out India's captain, Rohit Sharma.
Head was part of the first Ageas Bowl International Cricket Academy intake that summer, when he made 968 runs at 64.5 for the island club, 733 of them in the Premier League.
And it didn’t take the club too long to realise they had a tasty prospect when the 19-year-old Head stepped off the Red Funnel ferry in 2013.
“I remember him coming out to bat for the first time and he hit a full toss from a spinner over mid-wicket after maybe three or four balls,” says former teammate Robert Snell. “This ball just went like a tracer bullet and it went miles.
“He was just a phenomenal cricketer but a great guy too. He was very confident in his own ability, that was clear, but he had a down to earth quality to him.
“He was fun to be around – and definitely the best overseas player we’ve ever had.
“We had to play our league games at Newclose [the home of Isle of Wight cricket] that season, but he did play at Steephill. The only difference was that instead of smashing balls into the Solent, he was hitting them into a field of alpacas instead.”
Head revealed the impact that the stint had on his career.
“I was living in Southampton at the time but the Ventnor boys looked after me. Just living away from home and having to do stuff on your own for the first time is a big thing when you’re a young guy.
“You know when you’re an overseas players that there are expectations placed on you – you have to score runs and you have to win games of cricket for your side.”
He certainly did that, scoring an unbeaten 142 against Bashley (Rydal) alongside six fifty-plus scores, and 108 against Hambledon in the T20.