ENGLAND have been using Essex’s rising bowling star Reece Topley as their secret weapon ahead of the start of the yesterday's Ashes.
The 19-year-old was called up by England to help them prepare against a tall-left armer for the Ashes this week.
And Topley’s Essex team-mate David Masters says it won’t be long before the teenager is starring himself in an Ashes battle.
The marauding 6ft 7in tall seamer earned rave reviews after claiming career-best figures of 4-26 in the Eagles’ Twenty20 demolition of Kent on Monday night, three days after he picked up 3-19 in the reverse fixture in Canterbury.
And Masters, Essex’s leading wicket taker for the past three seasons, has seen enough to suggest Topley will one day be a Test regular.
“Reece is a good athlete, he bowls line and length, he’s a left-armer and I feel he has all the attributes to play international cricket,” said Masters.
“He needs to develop because he’s only 19, but he is a very good prospect and has something about him which I describe as ‘a bit of belly’.
“He’s nice to watch and I’m really pleased with him, as are the coaching staff at the club.
“Nothing would give me greater pleasure than seeing Reece Topley picked for England one day, and I’m sure he will be.”
Topley is the son of former Essex bowler Don Topley, and plays club cricket for Colchester & East Essex.
He broke into Essex’s first team in 2011 and has 25 wickets at an average of 33 so far this season.
Masters predicts his protégé will claim at least 50 Championship wickets this year, and expects him to get a call-up to a Lions tour.
“There are a few good things about Reece, including the fact that he is a cricket thinker who has been brought up around the game because of his dad,” said Masters, who sees Topley as his natural successor at the club.
“He has good enough pace, but he does not bowl really quickly like Tymal Mills, who will have the occasional wide ball or bowl into not such good areas because he is so quick. Reece bowls lower 80mph and is clever with that.
“He’s already shown he can acquit himself in all formats, and this week he showed how well he can perform in the Twenty20, which is very impressive because it is probably one of the hardest things for young players to come in and do well at.”
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