Reece Topley revealed that new cut-off dates for the County players denied him the opportunity to become an injury replacement for this season’s IPL. He said that he would’ve liked to go to the IPL but the new rules meant he had to stay back with Surrey.
A new cut-off date has been put in place for the County players if they are to be signed as replacements in the Indian Premier League. It was this very rule that denied Reece Topley to fly in as a replacement player.
Back in 2018, the England pace-bowling trio of Liam Plunkett, David Willey and Tom Curran were signed up as replacement players in the IPL. It was last-minute, and that meant they had to miss the first few games of the County Championship at the start of the England summer. That prompted the County coaches and directors to converge for an emergency meeting.
The result of the meeting was that there would be a ‘cut-off date’, after which County players would not be able to sign IPL deals, even as replacement players. It was done to keep the County Championship “future-proofed”.
According to ESPNCricinfo, this year’s cut-off date was decided to be February 28th (10 days after the IPL auction), and a similar procedure is expected to follow in the coming years. Moreover, this rule applies to only those players who are contracted to their respective Counties and not the ECB. Hence, that was the reason why Jason Roy could be named as a replacement for Mitchell Marsh in the Sunrisers Hyderabad squad.
That’s where Reece Topley couldn’t fly to India as a replacement player. The left-arm pacer had the opportunity to join the Chennai Super Kings side as a replacement for Josh Hazlewood. Rajasthan Royals also approached Topley after Jofra Archer was completely ruled out of this season. However, the tweak in the County rules denied him the chance to play in the IPL as he is contracted with Surrey.
“There was an opportunity to go out. It’s unfortunate – I was really keen to go, but there’s something in place that means English county players can’t go out as replacements. Jason [Roy] went but he’s contracted to the ECB, whereas I’m contracted to Surrey, and I fell under that rule. It was something I’d have liked to have done but those are the rules,“
Topley was quoted saying.
Having made his international debut for England back in 2015, Topley’s career has constantly been plagued by injuries. He hasn’t even featured regularly in the County Championships and other white-ball domestic tournaments in England. In fact, before this 2021 County Championship season, the left-arm pacer had bowled only in three first-class games since 2015.
However, this year, he has featured in two out of the three games for Surrey and has played a big role already. He has picked up 10 wickets in two games, including a five-wicket haul in the first innings against Gloucestershire.
The 27-year-old fast bowler admitted that his long-term plan is to feature in the England squad for the T20 World Cup later this year which will be played in India. However, he is enjoying his cricket at the moment and is taking it one at a time.
“I’m fortunate to be playing and I don’t take it for granted at all. Whatever the format, the batsman or the scenario, it’s just amazing to be playing. [My involvement at Surrey] is on a week-by-week basis but I feel great.
Obviously, the long-term plan is the T20 World Cup at the end of the year and that’s my main focus, but with this huge chunk of Championship cricket at the start of the season I really want to contribute towards winning games for Surrey,”
Topley further added.
