Samuel William Billings (born 15 June 1991) is an English professional cricketer. Billings is a right-handed batsman who fields as a wicket-keeper. He was born at Pembury in Kent and has played for Kent County Cricket Club sides since he was eight years old, making his senior debut for the First XI in 2011. In October 2017 he was appointed as the vice-captain of the team before being appointed as captain in January 2018, replacing Sam Northeast. Billings is regarded as a versatile cricketer who studies the game intensely and has an imaginative range of scoring shots. He has appeared mainly in limited overs formats for the England cricket team and made his Test cricket debut in January 2022. He has played Twenty20 franchise cricket in the Pakistan Super League, Indian Premier League and in the Big Bash League in Australia and captained Oval Invincibles in the first two seasons of The Hundred. Early and personal life Billings was born at Pembury in Kent and grew up on his family's farm in the north of the county. He developed as a good all-round sportsman, playing tennis for Kent and being offered a trial for Tottenham Hotspur Football Club after scoring a hat-trick against the team's academy side whilst playing for Corinthian under-14s. He also played racquets, squash and rugby. His grandfather, Ron Billings, was a racquets champion and his cousin, Tom Billings, has been world champion of the sport. Billings attributes racquets with helping to develop his batting skills, in particular his hand-eye coordination. Billings attended New Beacon School in Sevenoaks, and then Haileybury College in Hertfordshire, appearing regularly for their cricket XI throughout his school career. He studied for a degree in Sport and Exercise Science at Loughborough University. Billings has said that he was "nowhere near good enough" to become a professional cricketer before his time at university and credits it with encouraging him to work hard to develop his talent. Early career Billings made his first-class debut for Loughborough MCCU against Northamptonshire in 2011. He made a further first-class appearance for the team in 2011, against Leicestershire. In his four first-class matches for Loughborough MCCU, he scored 321 runs at an average of 45.85, with a high score of 131. This score came in his debut match against Northamptonshire. Kent career Whilst at university Billings was also a member of the Kent squad, and he made his