Fast bowler, who has been compared to Australian great Glenn McGrath, was named in England’s T20 squad but has ambitions for more
John Turner gave himself one ambition at the start of this summer: to play regular County Championship cricket for Hampshire. Yet now, the allure of his pace and bounce, have led to him being called up to play for England.
“It’s been unbelievable,” Turner tells Telegraph Sport. “If you told me six months ago, I would have said you’re crazy.”
His parents evidently agreed. When he called them earlier this week, “they said my tone of voice was really wrong,” Turner recalls. “They were really worried when they answered the phone. And then when I told them they were shocked – they didn’t have any words, probably similar to my reaction when Luke Wright phoned me. My mum at first checked to make sure no one was playing a joke on me or anything like that. They were shocked but obviously at the same time really proud and really happy.”
To understand why Turner has been fast-tracked into the England set-up at the age of 22, consider his ninth ball in the Hundred: an 86mph delivery that jagged in the off the seam to bowl Jonny Bairstow on Monday night. Showing his range, Turner closed out Trent Rockets’ victory, switching between bowling back-of-a-length and full and cranking his pace up to 90mph.