The World Cup and Reece Topley’s unfinished business

Reece Topley experienced insomnia. He left his hotel room in Singapore at three in the morning in search of a cup of tea and some news when tragedy struck him again. “The opening line on the sports news was, England frontline seamer out of the World Cup,” Don told Cricbuzz. Reece, his son, who was expected to captain England’s fast bowling attack at the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, had suffered a freak accident a few days prior.

The day before Australia’s exhibition match against Pakistan on October 17 in Brisbane, Reece was practicing taking dual catches at the boundary line with Chris Jordan when he tripped over the boundary skirting and strained his ankle ligaments. The fast bowler subsequently traveled to Perth, Australia, where England’s World Cup campaign was scheduled to begin four days later. However, his trip was cut short even before the first ball was thrown in the competition.

“I distinctly recall visiting him at the Perth hotel right adjacent to the Optus stadium. I tried to comfort him, but he simply started crying. When the World Cup was taken away from a 28-year-old man in the peak of his career, he began to cry, Don says.

Over the years, Don and his wife Julia have made numerous trips to watch Reece play international cricket. They were going to go via Singapore to Perth first, where he was scheduled to face Afghanistan in the tournament’s opening match before falling behind England for the duration of the campaign. Hotels and internal flights were paid for. Instead, they found Reece crying uncontrollably while sitting in his room wearing a moon boot.

Reece Topley had no plans to linger for very long. His 2022 wasn’t supposed to go this way. He demonstrated his white-ball prowess against India in an ODI at Lord’s just a few months before the T20 World Cup, taking six wickets for 37 runs, the best ODI total by an Englishman. However, this high was quickly followed by the shattering low of missing out on the T20 World Cup, which England went on to win, in keeping with his terrible career trajectory.

“He left right away after the opening match against England and Afghanistan in Perth. He gave England a high-five as they left the field, got in the car, and drove them to the airport. It still makes me feel chilly and uncomfortable today. He had a layover in Singapore after that lengthy travel. He probably had some extremely quiet times. That must have been awful,” Don said.

Reece Topley has lived this life: he was a powerful left-arm fast bowler who could have ruled the world, but injuries kept setting him back. He was also six feet eight inches tall. He experienced his first stress fracture at the age of 19, which shocked him. The pacer acknowledged that he might not necessarily get to play as much cricket for England as he’d originally envisioned after five of them, though, which resulted in a back operation. Don, a former cricket player and current coach, explained to those who inquired that being a successful fast bowler required a lot of talent, a lot of perseverance, and a lucky body. Reece had no trouble meeting the first two requirements, but he sadly lacked the third.

“It’s been difficult. I am unable to conceal or refute it. It is demanding and does wear on you. However, there is something — bouncebackability — on the opposite side. I genuinely think the majority of cricketers would have raised the white flag and quit, adds Don.

Reece’s arduous climb to the top and subsequent maintenance of that position required a lot of work and tears in addition to skill and advancement. For Don too. Reece had to make the difficult decision to undergo surgery in the middle of 2019 after sustaining his fifth stress fracture. Don was now in a painfully ironic circumstance that brought him to tears.

Don was back in his hometown of Suffolk organizing a cricket festival for eager Under-12 County cricketers while Reece was having surgery. “I was trying to be positive because I had these fantastic players who were 12 years old and full of energy who simply wanted to play cricket. When I went to the bathroom, I would cry because I knew what was happening in the Wellington hospital while I was facilitating them all, setting up their activities, and trying to be enthusiastic, Don recalled.

Every such setback has required him to use both his body and mind to claw his way back. Fast bowlers all around the world face stress fractures as a result of their line of work, but losing valuable time to unheard-of events like tripping over a boundary line and dislocating his shoulder while fielding for RCB this year have been terrifying experiences. The setbacks along the road have also impacted Reece’s attitude because he is a forward-thinking person who spent a lot of his young adult life planning what his next major cricketing milestone would be.

Don comments on Reece’s capacity to divert his attention from cricket by saying, “To give Reece credit, his mother really enjoys this.” “Cricket has been a huge part of my life as a player, coach, commentator, and teacher. Reece enjoys getting away from the game when he isn’t playing cricket. He enjoys other things. That might have escalated as a result of the awful, awful days he’s had playing cricket. Because of all he’s gone through, he has had to accept that cricket may not be his thing every day.

So that puts us in October 2023. After warming the bench in England‘s World Cup ODI opener two days prior, he made an unforgettable impression on the team on July 7.

Reece felt vindicated for enduring all those gloomy times when he was shut up at home watching England play or in a hospital bed, facing the fear that he might never get to play football again. His recovery progress last year was fueled by his victory in the World Cup and his conviction that he had unfinished business there. Reece’s 4 for 43 performance against Bangladesh in his first significant attempt to make up for lost time was a reward for all the tenacity displayed over the years, as Don watched from the stands in Dharamsala.

The Arun Jaitley stadium in New Delhi on October 15 will be the next stop on this incredibly unpredictable journey for both Reece and Don.