CANTERBURY Hockey Club star David Mathews is celebrating after being selected for England's World Cup squad. The Kent College teacher his also delighted for one of his pupils, Chris Pryce, who has been picked for the England Under-16 team.

Mathews, a former pupil at Simon Langton school at Canterbury, is in the senior squad for the World Cup in Malaysia next month. "It's a fantastic opportunity to show the world what I'm capable of," said the man identified by national coach Dave Whittle as the team's short-corner specialist for the tournament.

The 24-year-old has scored two hat-tricks in his last two tournaments, and four goals in a training match against a Gibraltar side. "I am confident in front of goal at the moment," he said. His team-mates Jon Evennett and Richard Mantell, however, missed selection for the event, which starts on Sunday, February 24.

Qualifiers will begin in two groups, with England playing Australia, Cuba, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Poland.

Pryce, also a Canterbury club player, will be in either the under-16 tournament in Manchester at Easter, against Spain, Germany and Holland, or the European Nations tournament in Rotterdam in June; possibly both.

The full-back said: "I am really pleased to have been picked for the squad and, since I am still a year younger than most of them, it will be great experience for the future."