Reece James William Topley (born 21 February 1994) is an English international

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who plays for the

England cricket team The England men's cricket team represents cricket in England, England and cricket in Wales, Wales in international cricket. Since 1997, it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by Maryleb ...

in white ball cricket as a left-arm fast medium bowler. He plays for

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

in domestic cricket. Topley debuted for England in August 2015 against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, and represented the team at both the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 and

2023 Cricket World Cup The 2023 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup was the 13th edition of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament organized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was hosted from 5 October to 19 ...

. He plays for the

Mumbai Indians The Mumbai Indians are a professional Twenty20, Twenty20 cricket team based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The Indians were founded in 2008 and are owned by India's largest Conglomerate (company), co ...

in the

Indian Premier League The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a professional Twenty20 (T20) cricket league in India, organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Founded in 2007, it features ten city-based Professional sports league organization, fr ...

Background

He was born on 21 February 1994 in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

. He was educated at the

Royal Hospital School The Royal Hospital School (also known as "RHS" and historically nicknamed "The Cradle of the Navy") is a British co-educational fee-charging international boarding and day school with naval traditions. The school admits pupils aged 11 to 18 ...

. His father, Don Topley, was a first-class cricketer for Essex and

. His father was also one of his teachers at Royal Hospital School, where he is a master of cricket. His uncle, Peter Topley, was also a first-class cricketer.

Domestic and franchise career

In June 2009, aged 15, Topley made the headlines when he was injured bowling in the nets at

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public university, public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university sinc ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

batsman

Kevin Pietersen Kevin Peter Pietersen (born 27 June 1980) is a former England international cricketer. He is regarded as one of the greatest England batsmen to have played the game, and renowned for his competitive, and often controversial nature. He was a ri ...

. Pietersen flat drove a delivery, which ended up striking Topley on the side of the head, knocking him to the ground. He was taken to

Leicester Royal Infirmary The Leicester Royal Infirmary (LRI) is a National Health Service (England), National Health Service teaching hospital in Leicester, England. It is located to the south-west of the Leicester City Centre, city centre. It has an Emergency departm ...

where he required stitches to his ear and was kept in hospital overnight. Following the incident, Pietersen, whom Topley cited as his favourite player, gave the youngster his

cricket bat A cricket bat is a specialised piece of equipment used by batters in the sport of cricket to hit the ball, typically consisting of a cane handle attached to a flat-fronted willow-wood blade. It may also be used by a batter who is making batte ...

with his signature on. A product of the Essex youth cricket system, Topley made his first-class debut for

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

against Cambridge MCCU in the 2011 season. He impressed on

County Championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...

debut against

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, taking his maiden five wicket haul when he took figures of 5/46 in Kent's second-innings of the match. In the following championship match against

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

he his second five wicket haul, with figures of 5/64 in Middlesex's first-innings. In May 2011, he signed a one-year professional contract with Essex. That month also saw Topley make his

List A List A cricket is a classification of the Limited overs cricket, limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competit ...

debut against the

Unicorns The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since Classical antiquity, antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn (anatomy), horn projecting from its forehead. In European literature and art, the unico ...

in the Clydesdale Bank 40, with Topley claiming his maiden wicket in that format, that of Robin Lett. Mid-season Topley took a break from

county cricket Inter-county cricket matches have been played since the early 18th century, involving teams that are representative of the historic counties of England and Wales. Two county championship competitions have existed since the late 19th century at ...

to return to Royal Hospital School to revise for his summer exams. However, during his break he was called up to play for England Under-19s for their Youth

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

series against South Africa Under-19s. He returned to action for Essex in August, to date he has played two List A matches and nine first-class matches. He has made a good start to his first-class career, taking to date 34 wickets at an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

of 23.55. The start to his career drew praise from former England captain

Michael Vaughan Michael Paul Vaughan (born 29 October 1974) is an English cricket commentator and former cricketer who played all forms of the game. He served as England cricket captain, England captain for the England test team, test team from 2003 to 2008 ...

, who stated that Topley could become a future

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

cricketer. On 1 September 2015,

Hampshire County Cricket Club Hampshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class cricket, first-class county cricket, county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the Historic counties of England, historic county of Hamp ...

confirmed the signing of Topley from Essex at the end of the 2015 season. At the end of the 2018 season and yet another stress fracture, Topley underwent back surgery. In IPL 2021, he was asked for being a replacement for injured Josh Hazlewood by

Chennai Super Kings The Chennai Super Kings, also known as CSK, are a professional Twenty20 cricket team based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The team was one of the eight debut franchises when the league was establ ...

, but he denied the offer as the cricketer feared by the hike of COVID-19 cases in India. In 2021, he was drafted by Oval Invincibles for the inaugural season of The Hundred. In December 2021, he was signed by Islamabad United following the players' draft for the 2022 Pakistan Super League. In April 2022, he was bought by the Oval Invincibles for the 2022 season of The Hundred. He is bought by

Royal Challengers Bangalore The Royal Challengers Bengaluru, formerly Royal Challengers Bangalore, also known as RCB, are a professional Twenty20, Twenty20 cricket team based in Bengaluru, Karnataka, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Founded in 2008 ...

to play in the IPL 2023 season for INR. 1.90 Crore in the IPL auction held on 23 December 2022. In the first match of the 2023 season against Mumbai Indians he sustained a dislocated shoulder injury and was ruled out of the whole IPL season. In 2023 he was brought by the Northern Superchargers for the 2023 season of The Hundred. In 2024, he and his teammate from

, Will Jacks, withdrew from the final stages of the IPL due to international duties. He was selected to play for Sylhet Strikers in 2025 Bangladesh Premier League. In 2025, he was recruited by the

for the 2025 IPL season.

International career

He made his

Twenty20 International Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of Twenty20 cricket, in which each team plays a single innings with a maximum of twenty overs. The matches are played between international teams recognized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). ...

debut against Australia on 31 August 2015 and his

debut, also against Australia, on 13 September 2015, taking figures of 0-33. He kept his place in the ODI side for the series against Pakistan and played in all four matches. He picked up his first international wickets in the first match and finished with figures of 3-26, although it wasn't enough to prevent an England defeat. He had picked up one wicket in each of the next three matches, with England winning all three games. He played in the first T20 international between the two sides, and finished with figures of 3-24. He continued his role in the ODI side for the tour of South Africa, and again played every game in the series. He took figures of 1–43 in the first game, as England won by 39 runs on the DL Method. In the next game he took figures of 4–50 to help England to back to back wins. England lost the next three games of the series, although Topley performed well, taking figures of 2–39 in the fourth match of the series and 3–41 in the final match, which South Africa won by 5 wickets. He played in both T20 internationals, although he didn't take a wicket in either game. He kept his place in the England side for the T20 World Cup, but was expensive in the first game against the West Indies, taking figures of 1–22 in 2.1 overs. He was expensive in the next match against South Africa, bowling two overs for 33 runs. He was replaced in the side by Liam Plunkett and did not play in the tournament again. Topley was part of that successful T20 squad that was defeated in the World Cup Final in India, but upon returning home was found to have a stress fracture in his back. On 26 March 2021, Topley returned to the England starting XI in the second ODI against India at Pune. He took 2-50 from 8 overs. In October 2021, Topley was added to England's squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup as a travelling reserve. On 14 July 2022, in the second match against India, Topley took his first

five-wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batter. Takin ...

and the best bowling figures for England in an ODI match with 6 for 24. In May 2024, he was named in England’s squad for the

2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup The 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was the ninth edition of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, co-hosted by Cricket West Indies and USA Cricket from 1 to 29 June 2024. It was the first major ICC tournament to include matches played in the United ...

tournament.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Topley, Reece 1994 births Living people Cricketers from Ipswich Durban's Super Giants cricketers English expatriate cricketers in South Africa England One Day International cricketers England Twenty20 International cricketers English cricketers Essex cricketers Hampshire cricketers Melbourne Renegades cricketers English expatriate cricketers in Australia Oval Invincibles cricketers People educated at the Royal Hospital School Surrey cricketers Sussex cricketers Northern Superchargers cricketers Royal Challengers Bengaluru cricketers English expatriate cricketers in India Cricketers at the 2023 Cricket World Cup