Ashington cricket pro Jeremiah Louis called up by West Indies for Test series in England

Louis, 28, – nicknamed ‘Chilly’ at Langwell Crescent – is in his second season with the Mighty Acorns.

Skipper Sean McCafferty said: “Jeremiah was probably on the cusp of being selected at the start but he’s managed to get his way into the squad due to injuries.

"Obviously there’s no higher honour as a cricketer than to represent your country and we’re proud and delighted for him. We just hope he goes and shows everybody how good he is - and how good we know he is.

"I suppose it’s an added bonus that the West Indies tour is in this country as he was already here. Last year was the first time ‘Chilly’ had ever played in England when he came to us so I’d like to think that Ashington has had a small contribution in him making the squad.

"From a club point of view all of the lads are absolutely delighted for him. His mam and his cousins came across here last week - so instead of watching ‘Chilly’ play for Ashington, hopefully they’ll be seeing both him and his brother Mikyle - who is also in the squad and who like Jeremiah also had a great season for the Leeward Islands - playing for the West Indies which will be a nice moment for the family.”

He continued: “All that will happen now is that the lads will be hammering ‘Chilly’ - as well as Ashington’s own England speed merchant Mark Wood - for tickets!

"We could also be in a situation where hopefully we have got two people (Louis and Wood) who are registered to play for Ashington this year that could be playing against each other in a Test match - which I don’t think will be in the history books of many clubs.”

He went on: “I believe we will be without ‘Chilly’ until the end of July. He’ll miss our game against Burnmoor on Saturday (June 29) as he will be travelling down to meet up with the West Indies party. It’s a shame we are going to be without him - but there’s a far bigger picture here than Ashington CC and we are super proud. ‘Chilly’ is not just an overseas professional to us now – he’s part of the furniture here.

"Everyone loves him and he fits in so well - so from all of his friends at Ashington, we’re all rooting for him and hoping that he will get his first test cap.”

McCafferty added that the club are checking out the possibility of a replacement for Louis.

“We are looking into things - but I’m more than happy with our squad and happy to go with what we have got,” he said. “We are second in the league and are going really well with ‘Chilly’ being a big part of it. However I would rather ‘Chilly’ took five wickets at Lord’s and we go with our tried and tested local lads as we try to finish as high up the North East Premier Division table as possible.”

The three Test matches will be played at Lord’s (July 10-14), Trent Bridge (July 18-22) and Edgbaston (July 26-30).