WI vs Eng: John Turner wants to prove he’s the real deal

The first appearance came on Thursday and the first wicket came on Saturday, when Jordan Cox brilliantly caught Brandon King’s drive at back point.

“It’s good to have been involved in the last few months, but now to have the opportunity to play is really exciting,” explains Turner. “Getting your first wicket is really cool and probably a moment I’ll never forget.”

“I think the whole ‘rhythm project,’ as they call it, is really exciting,” Turner said. “There’s a lot of us that are in and around. I think just being in and around the teams is really exciting to try and put my name in the hat for a place in the Test team, or the T20 team. I think ‘ “I’m still very raw, I’m very young and I still have a lot to learn.”

Both of Turner’s outings so far have been qualified successes. On debut, he regularly beat King and Evin Lewis without reward, while in his second appearance he dismissed both in his first seven balls. In both cases, you looked at the scoreboard and were shocked to see that they had conceded their runs at 5.2 an over and then at 7 an over. But a couple of sixes hit each time will suffice.

When Jofra Archer handed him his cap, the Bajan-born quick announced to the world that Turner was the best player in PIG, the football-based header-and-volley warm-up match that England plays, in the team. This was a lie. Turner is at the bottom of the list.

Which, if anything, is a relief. A better hockey player than cricketer, Turner completed his degree in economics and finance at the University of Exeter over the summer, which he had been studying full-time. A year ago, if you walked through the team hotel on this same tour, chances are you would have seen Turner with his head buried in his books and a laptop with a coffee in his hand.

“Obviously I don’t plan on using it now,” Turner said. “But I think I’ll probably end up doing a master’s degree at some point in the next few years, just to add it to my CV and move on.”

During this year’s Hundred, Turner finished a match for Trent Rockets in Birmingham on a Monday night, drove back to Exeter, where he arrived at 2.30am, took his test at 9.30am and then returned to Nottingham the next day for the Rockets’ next game. Passed.

Turner, one of the first of this England crop to be selected on attributes rather than a proven body of work, appreciates the benefits and also the slightly uncomfortable nature of overtaking those who have been working hard for years.

“Obviously it’s really exciting to have someone see something in you,” he says. “Probably before you see it yourself.

“Cricket is a game of statistics, but you need those attributes to prove yourself or to be successful at the top level. And whether I have that, or whether other guys, the younger ones, have that, nobody really knows until “You understand.” They put you in this environment and you succeed or you fail.

“You see guys doing really well in county cricket, and they don’t necessarily get opportunities in the national set-up. And you feel like, for them, it’s hard to push yourself and you’re almost not tall enough or not big enough, and you’re being labeled because that’s why you’re not going to be successful. But on the other hand, I’m lucky enough to benefit from this and hopefully make the most of it and take advantage of any opportunity that comes my way.”

Turner’s pace, he admits, has slowed on this tour and it’s something he’s looking to address.

“It’s one of my biggest attributes, but I feel like I’ve been down in the last few games. I think I’ve been below 80 when I’d rather be above 80. I know in The Hundred I was above 80 with one or two in the 90s.

“So I know I can get there. It’s just what am I not doing and I need to figure it out and put it into practice and hopefully get there.”

“But again, it’s something you have to get better at and then just try to hit the pad hard and make life uncomfortable for the hitter. Use whatever the surface has to offer, so whether you go move or stay low, jump… I’m just trying to take advantage of that. [I want to] be really attacking and try to be that point of difference.

Cameron Ponsonby is a freelance cricket writer based in London. @cameronponsonby