Reece Topley

England

Full name Reece James William Topley

Born February 21, 1994, Ipswich, Suffolk

Current age 25 years 64 days

Major teams England, England Lions, England Under-19s, Essex, Essex 2nd XI

Playing role Bowler

Batting style Right-hand bat

Bowling style Left-arm medium-fast

Height 6 ft 7 in

Relation Father - TD Topley, Uncle - PA Topley

Batting and fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	4s	6s	Ct
ODIs	10	5	4	7	6	7.00	40	17.50	0	0	2
T20Is	6	1	1	1	1*	-	2	50.00	0	0	1
First-class	34	41	19	94	16	4.27	488	19.26	8	0	8
List A	55	17	11	54	19	9.00	113	47.78	4	1	13
T20s	63	12	7	15	5*	3.00	30	50.00	2	0	16

Bowling averages

	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10
ODIs	10	10	463	410	16	4/50	4/50	25.62	5.31	28.9	1	0	0
T20Is	6	6	103	173	5	3/24	3/24	34.60	10.07	20.6	0	0	0
First-class	34	59	5966	3401	127	6/29	11/85	26.77	3.42	46.9	3	7	2
List A	55	55	2558	2366	93	4/16	4/16	25.44	5.54	27.5	9	0	0
T20s	63	62	1323	1827	84	4/26	4/26	21.75	8.28	15.7	2	0	0

Career statistics

ODI debut	England v Australia at Manchester, Sep 13, 2015 scorecard
Last ODI	South Africa v England at Cape Town, Feb 14, 2016 scorecard
ODI statistics
T20I debut	England v Australia at Cardiff, Aug 31, 2015 scorecard
Last T20I	England v South Africa at Mumbai, Mar 18, 2016 scorecard
T20I statistics
First-class debut	Cambridge MCCU v Essex at Cambridge, Apr 2-4, 2011 scorecard
Last First-class	Somerset v Hampshire at Taunton, May 26-28, 2017 scorecard
List A debut	Essex v Unicorns at Chelmsford, May 22, 2011 scorecard
Last List A	England Lions v India A at The Oval, Jul 2, 2018 scorecard
T20s debut	Essex v Kent at Chelmsford, Jun 20, 2012 scorecard
Last T20s	Gloucestershire v Hampshire at Bristol, Jul 28, 2017 scorecard

Recent matches

Bat & Bowl	Team	Opposition	Ground	Match Date	Scorecard
2*, 0/33	Eng Lions	v India A	The Oval	2 Jul 2018	LA
4/16	Eng Lions	v W. Indies A	Northampton	28 Jun 2018	LA
3/54	Eng Lions	v W. Indies A	Derby	23 Jun 2018	LA
1/35	Eng Lions	v India A	Derby	22 Jun 2018	LA
6*, 1/53	Hampshire	v Yorkshire	Southampton	18 Jun 2018	LA
2/12	Hants 2nd XI	v Unicorns	Newport	14 Jun 2018	Other T20
2/8	Hants 2nd XI	v Unicorns	Newport	14 Jun 2018	Other T20
3/49	Hants 2nd XI	v Surr 2nd XI	New Malden	8 Jun 2018	Other OD
0/39	Hampshire	v Glamorgan	Swansea	3 Jun 2018	LA
4/40	Hampshire	v Middlesex	Northwood	30 May 2018	LA

Profile

Talented but distressingly injury prone, Reece Topley's England career - indeed, his Hampshire career as well - has been severely disrupted by injury, inviting questions at 24 as to whether this beanpole left-armer can survive the rigours of regular cricket, even as just a T20 specialist, or if he is heading sooner than he might wish to early retirement.

At a skyscraper height of 6ft 7ins, Topley has always towered above his team-mates. An early developer, he first hit the headlines in 2009 when, as a 15-year-old net bowler, his favourite player Kevin Pietersen drilled a drive into the side of his head. He needed stitches but Pietersen left him a signed bat as a more welcome memento.

It wasn't until 2011 that Topley started making his own headlines. As a gangly 17-year-old left-arm seamer with huge potential he took 14 wickets for Essex in his three opening Championship matches - including five-wicket hauls in each of his first two games against Kent and Middlesex.

That season was interrupted as Topley had to return to Royal Hospital School in Suffolk to start revising for the summer exams. His father, the former Essex player Don, was his school teacher and cricket mentor so slacking in any department is not an option.

Topley seemed admirably unaffected by the early hype. At the Under-19 World Cup in Australia in 2012, he stood out as a professional in a boys' game: no one claimed more than his 19 wickets, which came at nine apiece, and Topley relished his status as a senior bowler in England's side. Further recognition - before he had even turned 19 - arrived with an England Lions call-up for the 2013 tour Down Under.

The ECB and Essex have been careful to manage his workload, the county rotating him with their other talented quicks. He was a key member of the team in 2013, taking more than 80 wickets in all formats to earn a place on England's Performance Programme trip to Australia. However, a back injury ruled him out of going to Sri Lanka with the Lions, a reminder of how young fast bowlers need protecting.

Topley had played for Essex representative sides since the age of nine, but immediately after his England debut in a T20I against Australia in 2015 he announced he was on his way. At 21, his childhood county lacked, in his eyes, the ambition to sustain him, comfortable with Division Two of the Championship and unable to turn its excellent wins ratio in the limited-overs game into trophies. Topley headed for Hampshire, whose success in the limited-overs game was undeniable. As a tall left-armer with an ability to swing the ball at a decent lick, his appeal was obvious.

But injury struck again, this time in more freakish fashion, in his first season with Hampshire. He failed to bowl a ball after being ruled out for the season during his debut when his left hand was broken when he was hit by a bouncer while batting against Warwickshire's Boyd Rankin. Shoulder surgery followed in the close season and then he suffered another back stress fracture in August 2017 in a season in which he had managed only 112 overs in all competitions.

Topley signed a white-ball only deal in 2018 and won an England Lions call-up against India A as a show of faith, allowing him to show some neatly-timed form just ahead of the Royal London Cup final, but he was not selected, and soon needed a pin in his back after a fifth stress fracture. He signalled his wish to move on and was released in September.

ESPNcricinfo staff

Reece Topley

England

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