Reece Topley makes convincing case to lead England’s seam attack

England’s win over Bangladesh proved it was match practice they badly lacked in the opener against New Zealand but also the value of the specialist was underlined by the performance of Reece Topley.

His four for 43, but crucially two in two in his first over and three overall with the new ball, tipped an already one-sided game further England’s way and instantly justified his recall at the expense of an allrounder, Moeen Ali.

It was a stronger England attack with a heavier reliance on seam, their strength, and it feels they are closer now to knowing their best XI with four quicks and two spinners, but have the luxury of depth in the squad to mix and match for conditions. Reading those conditions will be the greater challenge and not something England have been particularly good at on the road in the past – remember the four seamers for a day-night Test in Ahmedabad only to see India’s spinners take 19 wickets.

At altitude in the Himalayan foothills and a pitch with pace, seam was always going to dominate so it was a welcome refuge for England, whereas the high scoring Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi, where they play Afghanistan on Sunday and where South Africa made the record World Cup score last week against Sri Lanka, will be more spin friendly. Dharamshala was England’s only day game too, which suited the seamers.

England may well rotate, giving Mark Wood a rest and possibly even Topley with Gus Atkinson and David Willey offering like-for-like alternatives. Well, almost in Willey’s case. He does not have the pace and bounce of Topley, but can swing the white ball early on. There is a strong argument for rotation giving England’s next run of fixtures after Afghanistan: South Africa, Sri Lanka, India and Australia.

Overall, however, Topley with the new ball, looks stitched in for the tournament now. Height, pace and swing into the left-handers, and late curve away from the right-handers, make him a complete package if he can stay fit. It is a reward for all the long hours of recuperation from a catalogue of injuries and the crushing disappointment of going home early from England’s victorious World T20 campaign in Australia last year after hurting himself tripping over the boundary sponge.

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Topley’s tournament ended just as his parents arrived in Australia and nobody can begrudge him his chance now, at the age of 29. “I definitely feel that I’ve got unfinished business at World Cups,” he said. “It’s nice to be at one fully fit, but I’m sort of undercooked, so hopefully I’ll peak at the right time. I haven’t played a lot of cricket this summer, I’ve been wrapped up in cotton wool, so thanks everyone that I’ve made it here.”

Competitions like the Hundred and the ever growing influence of Twenty20 have put a real value on allrounders and England have plenty in their squad: Moeen, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Willey, Chris Woakes and Ben Stokes (although he says he will not bowl, you can never rule Stokes out of a few overs if he thinks the team needs him).

The rise of keeper-allrounders is a hallmark of the modern game too. Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler, Ollie Pope and Ben Duckett (less so these days) are keeper/batsmen of the current generation. Of the next, Jamie Smith and Jamie Rew are two high scoring batsmen in county cricket who keep as well.

But Topley has shown with one performance the value of the specialist – the No 11 who can bowl quick and accurately with the new ball. Fifty over cricket requires batsmen to build innings, bowlers to weave a spell and that requires the skills of a specialist, rather than the allrounders who can do a bit of both. Curran is a case in point, struggling to adapt his Twenty20 skills to the longer white ball format as a bowler. The same can be levelled at Livingstone as a batsman, despite his hundred at the fag end of the summer against New Zealand. Australia relied too heavily on allrounders in their side against India, picking just one specialist spinner and lacked the guile to build on the breakthroughs by their quick bowlers, allowing the home side to wriggle out of trouble in their opening game.

The tournament is yet to crackle into life fully but Pakistan’s win over Sri Lanka was a sign that the final four group places are likely to be contested by six teams, with little to separate them, ensuring interest right up until the final ball of the group stage is bowled.

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Topley: I have unfinished business with the World Cup

Reece Topley declared that he has “unfinished business” with World Cups after helping England to victory over Bangladesh.

It was Topley’s first ever match in an one-day international World Cup. He has only featured in two matches in the T20 World Cup, performing poorly in the 2016 event in India.

Last year, Topley was set to play in the T20 World Cup in Australia but injured his ankle in England’s warm-up match after tripping on a boundary sponge at The Gabba. Injury also prevented him making a push for the 2019 World Cup.

The Surrey left-armer was omitted from England’s opening game of the campaign, the defeat to New Zealand.

“When I came out here I certainly felt like there was sort of unfinished business with World Cups,” said Topley.

“Last year it was certainly an opportunity missed, I was bowling really well with the lead up and then sort of had it all pulled the rug pulled out from under my feet. The last minute was very disappointing, but I’ve been wrapped up in cotton wool this time and it’s nice to be here but hopefully it’s more contributions because I don’t feel like I’ve sort of scratched the surface with World Cups and the IPL really.”

During the T20 World Cup in India in 2016, Topley conceded 55 runs from just 4.1 overs. He said that he was not fully fit at the time, battling a shoulder injury.

“I wasn’t 100 per cent during that competition,” the 29-year-old said. “That’s why I kind of feel like there was unfinished business.”

Topley’s career has been marred by injury, most notably a series of stress fractures which threatened to end his career.

“Being injured and not being able to do what you are good at and you love, is awful – especially watching others take your wickets or score your runs is another horrible thing,” he said.

“But you have to ask yourself what are the choices? Do you sit around and feel sorry for yourself or do you just have to crack on and get yourself back to full fitness, and then you’re not missing out on taking wickets or scoring runs.”

While Topley was disappointed to miss out on selection for the New Zealand match, he rapidly turned his attention to the game with Bangladesh.

“You don’t want to rock the boat, you just take your medicine but just erased everything for preparation for New Zealand and switched my mind to this game.”

Topley said that he was particularly thrilled with the dismissal of Bangladesh captain Shakib Al-Hasan, who was bowled by a delivery which swung late and dislodged the top of off stump.

“Aesthetically, it was very pleasing,” Topley said. “You just do the right things and put it in the right area. Probably bowl that ball again and it’s been patted back to me. So you rely on the batter playing a part in that sort of stuff as well.”

Topley relished the swing that he found at Dharamshala, which is believed to partly be down to the altitude.

“Even in training just this ground had something about it that just moved more in the air. You get that sometimes. Think back to Johannesburg – it swings more for me and you don’t really know why it might be altitude. I don’t know that there’s a certain grounds you warm up, it moves more.

“I said to Woody ‘I feel like taking wickets all the time here,” Topley laughed. “And thankfully I did.”

Topley said that, despite England’s relentless travel – they cover 6,200 miles travelling between each pool match – he believes that he will be fit to play a full part in all seven remaining group games.

“Absolutely – it’s 70 overs max,” Topley said. “In our changing-room, we’ve all played county cricket, which can be quite a torrid time. You have to play a lot more regularly than this seven weeks, so I think everyone in our team can handle it pretty well.

“There’s a lot of chat about the schedule, and to be honest it’s one game every five days, it seems. I mean, county cricketers do much worse. If we play for Surrey, we’d be more tired. It’s not too bad – three training days between each, and you don’t have to turn up to some of them. It’s not really an excuse for us.”