GIVE REECE A CHANCE

Topley's out to make his mark at last

-  DEAN WILSON

REECE TOPLEY has admitted he is 'undercooked' as the World Cup begins this week but only so that he can come to the boil at just the right time.

And the evidence from England's only World Cup warm-up win, when Topley took 3-23 against Bangladesh on Monday, is that the tall left-arm pacer is simmering nicely, ready to put his stamp on a World Cup once and for all.

His freakish injury nightmare at the last T20 World Cup in Australia has been well documented, with the triangular boundary sponge tripping him up during training and causing ankle ligament damage that ended his tournament before the first game.

But he has been a part of two previous T20 tournaments in 2021 when he was called up as a replacement for Tymal Mills in the UAE, and in 2016 in India when he played just twice on a batting paradise in Mumbai.