Ethan, 15, becomes Britain’s youngest cricket umpire

A teenager earned his place in the history books after becoming the youngest qualified cricket umpire in Britain – at the age of 15.

Ethan Peel was studying for a BTec Intermediate certificate in cricket umpiring at Oxford Brookes University as part of an initiative by the International Institute of Cricket Umpiring and Scoring to recruit young officials. GCSE student Ethan, from Wallingford in Oxfordshire, had already completed modules on the laws of the game and field management, man management and duty of care.

And on Saturday he finished the final phase of the qualification when he independently umpired a friendly match between Tiddington and London-based Nomads in Oxfordshire. Afterwards, Ethan, a Year 11 student at Wallingford School, said: “It’s a good job that I’ve got parents who get me to games and a supportive coach who has really helped.

“I hope that what I’ve achieved will lead on to other young lads getting involved in umpiring. I only started out last year after my father told me about the course at Oxford Brookes.

“I’ve rolled on from there, doing classroom-based studies and then umpiring 15 to 20 games at adult and youth level this year. It has been good.

His proud father, John, said: “He did really well. He got some really good feedback afterwards and now it’s a case of waiting for the paperwork to be completed.”

The BTec, accredited by independent educational validation body Edexcel, owned by Pearson, has been running for four years with around 200 participants in the UK.