Tom Westley has provided Essex with some solidity at the top of the order, after several combinations were tried with little success. Until a broken finger in England's Ashes warm-up match at Chelmsford forced him out of the second half of the 2013 season, Westley had been steadily improving his returns, forming a reliable opening partnership with Jaik Mickleburgh from midway through 2012.

Westley, who also bowls capable offspin, came through as a middle-order batsman after joining the Essex Academy as a 14-year-old in 2003. He made his first-team debut in the one-day tour match against the Sri Lankans at Chelmsford in June 2006, travelling to Perth for three weeks on a Graham Gooch Scholarship that December and following that up with a trip to Mumbai as part of a five-strong Academy contingent in February 2007. He impressed enough there and in the indoor nets upon his return to be asked to join up with the first team on their pre-season tour to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and also featured in several of the pre-season matches back home.

It was expected that Westley's first team chances would increase with the retirements of Andy Flower and Ronnie Irani, and Alastair Cook and Ravi Bopara's increasing England commitments, but he hadn't really established himself before England Under-19s came calling, first for Pakistan Under-19s' visit in August 2007 and then for a tour of Sri Lanka and the Under-19 World Cup that followed in February 2008. Westley was named captain of the Under-19 side for New Zealand's tour that summer, and from 2009 juggled sporadic Essex appearances with his studies at Durham University.

A natural leader, he was also put in charge of the Durham MCCU side but returned to Essex to play a part in the County Championship promotion push by hitting a maiden first-class century in a crucial match at Derby in 2009. Although his progress thereafter was steady rather than spectacular, Westley gradually increased his importance to Essex. In 2012, for the first time, he played in every Championship game, including hitting 185 against Glamorgan. He followed that up with a century in the opening match of the 2013 season.
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