Young cricketer Matthew Collum has just scored one of his greatest achievements to date. 

The nine year old schoolboy, who is passionate about cricket, has been selected for North Cricket Union’s under nines; he has now taken his place as one of 16 in the under nine development squad.

The primary five pupil at the Model Primary School, who is a batsman and bowler, an all rounder, has been playing cricket from the age of three, following in the footsteps of his father Mark, who is very interested in cricket.

He is playing this year with Waringstown under 11s, whom he joined at the end of last season and played one match with them. 

Matthew travels to Waringstown every Monday night for training and his Saturday matches with the club will start at the end of May.

He recently went to North Cricket Union based in Belfast for its selection procedure and had to go to Jordanstown four times for trials, before learning he had been selected. There were 30 under nines and 16 were picked. He will train with the under nine squad twice a month, and there will be matches as part of NCU.

A youngster with a busy schedule, Matthew is still training with Enniskillen Cricket Club, while last summer, Matthew practised at Kesh Cricket Club with his age group.

A very sporty figure, he enjoys pursuing a wide range of sports, including playing football with Enniskillen Rangers, playing golf at Lough Erne Golf Resort, playing bowls at Garvary, and he plays tennis at Enniskillen Tennis Club. However, it is very apparent that his heart is set on a future career as a cricketer.

He is always playing cricket around home, where he has his own bowling machine.

Accompanied by his parents, Corinna and Mark and older sister, Kerri, the schoolboy’s love of the sport has seen him go to Yorkshire and Lancashire Cricket Clubs during holidays, where he intends to go in the summer, and he has played on Headingley Cricket Ground as part of a course. He is also hoping to go to see England play Pakistan in Manchester this summer.