When Josh Tongue makes his debut for England against Ireland on Thursday, one lucky bettor who placed a cheeky wager 14 years ago because they predicted that Josh Tongue will one day play for England and did so would earn 50,000 pounds ($63,000).
When Tim Piper was just 11 years old, he got the opportunity to watch Tongue play, and he put a wager of one hundred pounds at odds of five hundred to one that Tongue would one day play a test match for England.
“I’ve kept the bet slip in a cupboard all these years,” Piper said in an interview with BBC Sport.
Just then, the notion occurred to me that it must be worth one hundred pounds. Even if he is not successful, he will make us proud anyway. The fact that he was accepted for the testing crew is only a perk for him.
Tongue, who was a spinner at the time, was the son of Piper’s club teammate Phil, and the 56-year-old had seen enough of the younger Tongue to know that he was bound for big things.
“There was this youngster who bowled leg-spin, googlies, and top-spinners. He was really good. It reminded me of Shane Warne,” Piper continued.
Piper added that he kept an eye on the bowler who went on to collect 162 wickets in first-class cricket after Tongue turned to fast bowling when he transferred to the Worcestershire academy. Tongue is 25 years old and switched to fast bowling when he got to Worcestershire.
However, Tongue had considered retiring when he was out of work due to a shoulder ailment for the 15 months between 2021 and 2022. The problem was eventually resolved thanks to two surgeries and botox injections.
After injury worries about fellow quicks James Anderson and Ollie Robinson, he was ultimately given the opportunity to compete for England in the one-off test that will take place this week at Lord’s against Ireland.
“He had all those injuries, but I never gave up on him,” Piper continued to say after the previous statement. “I couldn’t stop thinking that’maybe it’s possible.'” These past two weeks have been nothing short of a complete 180.”
$1 is equal to 0.7923 pounds.