DECATHLETE Darren Hatton has moved a leap nearer the sport's elite by being placed on the "long list" for the English Commonwealth Games team. Hatton a former student at Canterbury's Simon Langton School, is among 10 decathlon competitors hoping to make the team of three, which is almost certain to be led by World and Olympic medallist Dean Macey.

Hatton, who lives at Seasalter, near Whitstable, said: "I was absolutely flabbergasted, but it gives me that extra boost for the cold nights of training along the seafront and at Herne Bay pier."

Hatton, a member of Ashford Athletic Club, who also trains at the town's Julie Rose Stadium, is presently ranked seventh in decathlon in the UK, with this year's score of 7,020, and needs to make 7,400 points to have a chance of selection by June 15. The games start in Manchester at the end of July.