Reece Topley

Reece Topley is a left-arm fast bowler and right-handed batsman.

He was born in Ipswich, Suffolk and has represented England in both limited-overs formats.

Having first featured for Essex’s representative sides, Topley impressed from an early age and initially burst onto the first-class scene after taking 14 wickets in his first three games at the age of just 17.

The 21-year-old was selected to represent England Under 19s at the 2012 World Cup and his excellent campaign – which saw him take 19 wickets – did not go unnoticed with a call-up to the senior England Lions tour to Australia soon following less than a year later.

He continued to perform well at domestic level, leading the country’s top wicket-takers for both the 2012 and 2013 editions of the T20 competition, before earning a call-up to a full England limited-overs squads in 2015.

Topley was handed his international debut in August after being selected in the final XI for an IT20 fixture against Australia whilst he was also included in England’s 50-over side to face Australia once again two weeks later.

After joining Hampshire on a two-year contract and playing in Hampshire's opening match of the 2016 campaign, Reece was ruled out for the rest of the season due to a stress-fracture to his back.

Despite his lack of on-field action, Topley was rewarded for his superb off-field efforts with Hampshire's Clubman of the Year award.

He returned to the field fitter and stronger in the 2017 season, recording figures of 3-23 in Hampshire's opening game of the NatWest T20 Blast, which included two wickets in his first over since returning to first-team cricket. 'Toppers' also earned his best bowling figures since joining the club, taking 4-68 in the Royal London One-Day Cup fixture against Middlesex.

Reece was unfortunately placed on the sidelines again due to another stress-fracture to his back, therefore ending his season prematurely. The left-arm seamer is excited to overcome his injury difficulties and is set to return guns-blazing for the 2018 season as he trains with the ECB Pace Programme throughout the winter.

More:  

• See Reece's profile on ESPN CricInfo
• See a list of matches and detailed statistics for Reece on Cricket Archive
• Research Reece's career achievements on Player Oracle