Putting money where your mouth is: Bookies pay Piper on Tongue punt

One lucky punter is in line to pocket £50,000 pounds (€58,000) after making a bet 14 years ago that Josh Tongue would one day play for England.

The fast bowler today made his red ball debut in the Lord's Test against Ireland.

Tim Piper had watched Tongue play when he was just an 11-year-old and placed a £100 bet at odds of 500-1 that he would play a Test match for England in the future.

"I've kept the bet slip in a cupboard all these years," Piper told BBC Sport.

"I just thought to myself, 'it must be worth 100 pounds'. If he doesn't make it, he'd make us proud anyway. This is just a bonus for him to get in the test team.

Tongue, the son of Piper's club team-mate Phil, was a spinner at the time and the 56-year-old had seen enough to realise he was destined for great things.

"There was this little kid who bowled leg-spin, googlies and top-spinners. It was like Shane Warne," Piper added.