| Personal information | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Reece James William Topley | |||
| Born | 12 February 1994 Ipswich, Suffolk, England |
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| Height | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | |||
| Batting style | Right-handed | |||
| Bowling style | Left-arm medium-fast | |||
| Relations | Don Topley (father) Paul Topley (uncle) |
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| Domestic team information | ||||
| Years | Team | |||
| 2011–present | Essex (squad no. 6) | |||
| Career statistics | ||||
| Competition | First-class | List A | ||
| Matches | 9 | 2 | ||
| Runs scored | 21 | – | ||
| Batting average | 3.50 | – | ||
| 100s/50s | –/– | –/– | ||
| Top score | 9 | – | ||
| Balls bowled | 1,337 | 78 | ||
| Wickets | 34 | 1 | ||
| Bowling average | 23.55 | 64.00 | ||
| 5 wickets in innings | 2 | – | ||
| 10 wickets in match | – | – | ||
| Best bowling | 5/46 | 1/40 | ||
| Catches/stumpings | 1/– | –/– | ||
| Source: Cricinfo, 26 August 2011 | ||||
Reece James William Topley (born 12 February 1994) is an English cricketer. Topley is a right-handed batsman who bowls left-arm medium-fast. He was born in Ipswich, Suffolk and was educated at the Royal Hospital School.
Topley made the headlines in June 2009 when he was injured bowling in the nets at Loughborough University to England batsman Kevin Pietersen. Pietersen flat drove a delivery, which ended up striking Topley on the side of the head and knocking him out. He was taken to Leicester Royal Infirmary where he required stitches to his ear and was kept in hospital overnight. Following the incident, Pietersen, who Topley cites as his favourite player, gave him his cricket bat with his signature on.[1]
A product of the Essex youth cricket system, Topley made his first-class debut for Essex against Cambridge MCCU in the 2011 season.[2] He impressed on County Championship debut against Kent, taking his maiden five wicket haul when he took figures of 5/46 in Kent's second-innings of the match.[3] In the following championship match against Middlesex he his second five wicket haul, with figures of 5/64 in Middlesex's first-innings.[4] In May 2011, he signed a one year professional contract with Essex.[5] That month also saw Topley make his List A debut against the Unicorns in the Clydesdale Bank 40,[6] with Topley claiming his maiden wicket in that format, that of Robin Lett.[7]
Mid-season Topley took a break from county cricket to return to Royal Hospital School to revise for his summer exams.[5] However, during his break he was called up to play for England Under-19s for their Youth One Day International series against South Africa Under-19s.[8] He returned to action for Essex in August, to date he has played two List A matches[6] and nine first-class matches.[2] He has made a good start to his first-class career, taking to date 34 wickets at an average of 23.55. The start to his career drew praise from former England captain Michael Vaughan, who stated that Topley could become a future Test cricketer.
His father, Don Topley, was a first-class cricketer for Essex and Surrey. His father is also one of his teachers at Royal Hospital School, where he is a master of cricket.[9] His uncle, Peter Topley, was also a first-class cricketer.
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