Reece Topley

Reece Topley
Personal information
Full name Reece James William Topley
Born 12 February 1994
Ipswich, Suffolk, England
Height 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Batting style Right-handed
Bowling style Left-arm medium-fast
Relations Don Topley (father)
Peter Topley (uncle)
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2011–present Essex (squad no. 6)
FC debut 2 April 2011 Essex v Cambridge MCCU
LA debut 22 May 2011 Essex v Uniorns
Career statistics
Competition FC LA T20
Matches 29 21 32
Runs scored 52 25 6
Batting average 2.88 6.25 6.00
100s/50s 0/0 0/0 0/0
Top score 12 19 4*
Balls bowled 5,382 858 672
Wickets 118 30 47
Bowling average 25.56 27.66 19.36
5 wickets in innings 7 0 0
10 wickets in match 2 n/a n/a
Best bowling 6/29 4/26 4/26
Catches/stumpings 7/– 4/– 8/–
Source: Cricinfo, 20 January 2015

Reece James William Topley (born 12 February 1994)[1] 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.[2]

A product of the Essex youth cricket system, Topley made his first-class debut for Essex against Cambridge MCCU in the 2011 season.[3] 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.[4] In the following championship match against Middlesex he his second five wicket haul, with figures of 5/64 in Middlesex's first-innings.[5] In May 2011, he signed a one year professional contract with Essex.[6] That month also saw Topley make his List A debut against the Unicorns in the Clydesdale Bank 40,[7] with Topley claiming his maiden wicket in that format, that of Robin Lett.[8]

Mid-season Topley took a break from county cricket to return to Royal Hospital School to revise for his summer exams.[6] 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.[9] He returned to action for Essex in August, to date he has played two List A matches[7] and nine first-class matches.[3] 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.[10] His uncle, Peter Topley, was also a first-class cricketer.

References

  1. "Reece Topley – Team profile". Essex County Cricket Club. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  2. Davies, Gareth A. (2 June 2009). "Don Topley's son hospitalised after being floored by Kevin Pietersen drive". The Daily Telegraph (www.telegraph.co.uk). Retrieved 26 August 2011.
  3. 3.0 3.1 "First-Class Matches played by Reece Topley". CricketArchive. Retrieved 26 August 2011.
  4. "Essex v Kent, 2011 County Championship". CricketArchive. Retrieved 26 August 2011.
  5. "Middlesex v Essex, 2011 County Championship". CricketArchive. Retrieved 26 August 2011.
  6. 6.0 6.1 "Reece Topley signs one-year Essex contract". ESPNcricinfo. 26 May 2011. Retrieved 26 August 2011.
  7. 7.0 7.1 "List A Matches played by Reece Topley". CricketArchive. Retrieved 26 August 2011.
  8. "Essex v Unicorns, 2011 Clydesdale Bank 40". CricketArchive. Retrieved 26 August 2011.
  9. "Topley called up by England Under-19". ESPNcricinfo. 24 June 2011. Retrieved 26 August 2011.
  10. "Player profile: Reece Topley". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 26 August 2011.

External links