Thomas Donald Topley (born 25 February 1964), known as Don Topley, is an English former professional

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er. Initially employed as an MCC Young Professional at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...

in 1984, he was selling scorecards one minute, and then the next fielding as 12th man substitute fielder for the 1984 Lord´s Test match involving England v West Indies. It was during this game that Topley gained notoriety for a splendid one handed catch on the boundary from a shot by Malcolm Marshall that didn´t count as his foot was on the boundary rope. Topley played for

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

and Griqualand West, as well as his 10-year career with

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. As a right-arm medium-fast bowler, Topley took 564 wickets at the top level of

county cricket Inter-county cricket matches are known to have been played since the early 18th century, involving teams that are representative of the historic counties of England and Wales. Since the late 19th century, there have been two county championship ...

before being released from his contract in 1994, whereupon he made accusations that two 1991 county matches were fixed. Together with

Guy Lovell William Guy Lovell (born 16 February 1969) is a former English cricketer. Born at Whitehaven, Lovell made a single appearance in List A cricket for Essex against Lancashire at Old Trafford in the 1991 Refuge Assurance League. He wasn't called ...

, Topley took part in an interview with the ''

Sunday Mirror The ''Sunday Mirror'' is the Sunday sister paper of the ''Daily Mirror''. It began life in 1915 as the ''Sunday Pictorial'' and was renamed the ''Sunday Mirror'' in 1963. In 2016 it had an average weekly circulation of 620,861, dropping marke ...

'' stating that during matches against

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, Essex were approached by the opposing team and accepted their offer of throwing one match in the Sunday League in return for Lancashire throwing the two sides' next encounter in the

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

. The

Test and County Cricket Board The Test and County Cricket Board (TCCB) was the governing body for Test and county cricket in Great Britain between 1968 and 1996. The TCCB was established in 1968 to replace the functions of the Board of Control for Test Matches (established in ...

reported that they had found no substance to the revelations. Topley was also an international coach with

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

from 1990 to 1992, after spending many winters playing and coaching all over southern Africa. In this capacity he helped Zimbabwe to upset England in a group match at the

1992 Cricket World Cup The 1992 Cricket World Cup (officially the Benson & Hedges World Cup 1992) was the fifth staging of the Cricket World Cup, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was held in Australia and New Zealand from 22 February to 25 Mar ...

, placing him in the unusual position of helping to defeat England's

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Graham Gooch Graham Alan Gooch, (born 23 July 1953) is a former English first-class cricketer who captained Essex and England. He was one of the most successful international batsmen of his generation, and through a career spanning from 1973 until 2000, h ...

who was also his county captain at Essex. This match occurred between Gooch and Topley combining on the same side in Essex's triumphs in the

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

and

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

. Being an alumnus of the Royal Hospital School in

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, he returned there after his career as Master i/c cricket. His brother, Peter Topley, had a brief career for

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

and his son,

Reece Topley Reece James William Topley (born 21 February 1994) is an English international cricketer who plays for the England cricket team in Limited overs cricket, white ball cricket as a left-arm fast medium bowler. He plays for Surrey County Cricket Clu ...

, is a left-arm fast-bowler who played for Essex, Hampshire and the England one-day team. Today Topley commentates on the domestic game of cricket, and is often found on the after dinner speaking circuit. Topley also hosts overseas supporters cricket tours following the England team.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Topley, Don 1964 births Norfolk cricketers Surrey cricketers Essex cricketers English cricket coaches English cricketers Living people People educated at the Royal Hospital School Sportspeople from Canterbury Coaches of the Zimbabwe national cricket team