Polstead’s Reece Topley called into England squad

Essex’s bowling sensation Reece Topley is in line for his England senior debut after being included in the Twenty/20 squad to face New Zealand on Tuesday.

The former Hadleigh cricketer, whose family home is in Polstead, is one of five players the national selectors have named who are set to play a Twenty/20 international.

Topley, the 21-year-old son of former Essex fast bowler Don Topley, has only previously in England’s youth and development sides, ahead of Tuesday’s ODI series game against New Zealand at Emirates Old Trafford.

National selector, James Whitaker, said: “This match against New Zealand allows us another opportunity to look at players relatively new to international cricket as we look to build a squad for the World Twenty/20 in India this winter.

“The squad is made up of players who have demonstrated their ability in domestic cricket and fully deserve a chance to continue their progress against a very good New Zealand side.

“We have already seen our limited overs cricket begin to move in the right direction which is exciting but we are all aware that we have plenty more to do if we are going to challenge the very best sides in the world on a regular basis.”

England squad: Eoin Morgan (Middlesex) (c), Sam Billings (Kent), Jos Buttler (Lancashire) (WK), Steven Finn (Middlesex), Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Ben Stokes (Durham), Reece Topley (Essex), James Vince (Hampshire), David Willey (Northamptonshire), Mark Wood (Durham).