An Australian boy has  earned cult status among cricket fans after he was filmed eating a whole watermelon – including the rind – in Melbourne.

Reports say the boy, Mitchell Schibeci, dubbed “watermelon boy”, said he devised the stunt to get his face on the game’s big screen.

Commentators at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) were shocked to see him eating the fruit, skin and all, at Saturday’s game at the weekend.

The hashtag #watermelonboy trended on social media in Australia and the ten year old boy told the BBC that eating the whole watermelon was tougher than expected.

Mitchell said he had been eating watermelon rind since the age of two, stating that he liked  the taste of it.