TEENAGE cricket star Jake Goodwin will today take a major step towards fulfilling his dream of becoming a professional cricketer when he signs a contract with Hampshire Academy.

The 15-year-old has amazed fellow players and coaches at Swindon Cricket Club with his skill and maturity as he has risen up through the club’s junior teams to score just shy of 1,000 runs for the first team this season, and having represented the South and West earlier this summer he has now caught the eye of the Hampshire selectors.

From early November he will train every Wednesday and Sunday at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton, and once the new season begins in the spring he will be looking to make the academy team in the ECB Southern Electric Premier League.

Goodwin still hopes that he will be able to play for his home side when his commitments with Hampshire allow, but is looking forward to making the step up.

“This is a massive commitment and a big achievement for me, and things will change a little because cricket will become more of a job now rather than a recreational thing,” he said.

“Hopefully I will still be able to come back and play for Swindon occasionally because I love playing for Swindon.

“This is one step closer to my dream and I’m excited for the future.”

Swindon’s head of youth development Chris Mabberley is not surprised by Goodwin’s latest achievement and has backed him to make a career out of the game.

“As a club we have been in awe of Jake’s talent for a few years already and I’m sure this is just the start of an exciting future for him,” he said.

“He has all the attributes needed to make a successful career in the sport and it’s all down to him now how far he wants to go.”

Former Swindon captain Paul Paginton first saw Goodwin play four years ago and has played alongside him over the last couple of seasons, and always knew the youngster had the potential to go a long way in the game.

“The is absolutely brilliant for Jake, he said.

“We all knew he had the potential to do it and while you always could see had a lot of ability, the main thing was he worked hard to get better.”