A pub landlord has won £50,000 (51 lakh INR) after placing an unlikely bet 14 years ago on England’s latest Test player Josh Tongue. At a time when perhaps even Josh Tongue would not have fancied his chances of playing for England, the landlord was confident that he would become an international player one day.
And that bold decision and the subsequent bet has earned him more than 51 lakh INR. Tim Piper, who is the landlord of the Cricketers Arms pub in Redditch, wagered £100 at odds of 500/1 that Josh Tongue would go on to a represent England in Test cricket. The bowler was only 11-years old at that time.
Born in 1997, the right-arm pacer made his first-class debut for Worcestershire against the Oxford MCC University side in March 2016. In the following year, he made his List A debut in the Royal London One-Day Cup. His chances of playing for England, however, looked as good as over after his constant struggle with shoulder injury. He even contemplated retiring from the game last year.
However, he has enjoyed a sensational turnaround in his career and was recently rewarded with a maiden England call-up. And on Thursday (June 1), he made his debut for England during the ongoing Test against Ireland at the iconic Lord’s. He received his debut Test cap from none other than the legendary James Anderson.
Tim Piper’s bet on Josh Tongue:
Josh Tongue was not the only man who was delighted after making his debut. Pub Landlord Tim Piper was perhaps equally delighted as his prediction finally came true. Piper was a team-mate of Tongue’s father Phil at Redditch Cricket Club in the 1990s.
“A couple of mates phoned me and said I should watch Sky Sports because he’s playing. I always thought they announced it on the day but I saw that he was playing! It’s wonderful,” Piper was quoted as saying by Metro.co.uk.
“His dad phoned me up last night and Josh nearly retired 12 months ago because of injury. He was touch and go thinking of calling it a day and 12 months later here he is playing for England.
“Of course I’m not going to play down £50k but it’s just such a wonderful story in itself. When he was younger he started to get better and better, batting with pace and getting better with bowling.
“I thought it’d be silly not to bet £100 on him at 500/1 and now 14 years later here we are – it’s gone by so fast,” he added.
Talking about the ongoing Test, Ireland were on 78 for 4 at lunch on day 1. Josh Tongue has bowled 6 overs so far and is yet to pick up his maiden Test wicket. Stuart Broad has picked up 3 wickets while Jack Leach has picked up the other one wicket.