John Turner was raised in South Africa and cheered on the Springboks to World Cup glory… but after making the ‘no brainer’ decision to play cricket for England, he is determined to make an instant impact

• John Turner admits that he supports South Africa when it comes to rugby
• But he is committed to playing cricket for England and is set to make his debut
• Turner hopes to make an instant impact on next month’s tour of the Caribbean 

Speed runs through the bloodline of John Turner, the Johannesburg-raised rookie fast bowler England hope can play a part in reviving their flagging limited-overs fortunes.

The 22-year-old certainly comes from sound sporting stock: his late grandfather Freddy Turner is a Springboks legend who won all four series he featured in and ran in tries from the wing in back-to-back clashes against the All Blacks in 1937 as South Africa departed an epic tour dubbed the greatest visiting side to have graced New Zealand.

‘As my dad Andrew tells the story, he was the first ever Springbok to fly to a rugby game. He had ridiculous sporting genes, so hopefully I got something from him,’ Hampshire’s Turner says of a man who also played first-class cricket and was a provincial swimmer.

However, despite his heritage, and the fact that he was cheering on his native South Africa throughout the recent Rugby World Cup, Turner’s lot is now in with England.

‘When England are playing, it’s probably now become a bit more of a 50-50, but when England aren’t playing, I’m definitely supporting the Springboks,’ he tells Mail Sport.

John Turner (pictured) had a breakthrough season at Hampshire to earn an England call-up

Turner’s late grandfather played rugby for South Africa, winning all four series he played in

Turner admits he cheered on the Springboks at the Rugby World Cup, but when it comes to cricket he is fully committed to playing for England

‘It’s well documented that they played for something greater than just the game and they showed whatever you do, if you have a greater purpose, you’re obviously going to give a lot more for that.’

And Turner suggests the newly-crowned world champions’ unwavering determination to come out on top no matter what – winning all three of their knockout matches by the barest of margins in France – should be a lesson to athletes across all sports.

‘It showed the power of one point, one run, one anything. Adi Birrell, our coach at Hampshire, always goes on about the importance of one run and after the Springboks won the final by one point, he put a message onto our WhatsApp group to remind us.’

Turner possesses a UK passport courtesy of his mother Caroline, who was raised in Zambia – her father worked for the British government – and made good use of it when Dale Benkenstein, then his school first XI coach at Hilton College, put him in touch with Hampshire. Michael Booth, another Hilton pupil with a British back story, accompanied him on trial in 2021 but has since signed for Warwickshire.

It was not until last summer, though, coinciding with the completion of a three-year residency making him eligible, that Turner began showing the attributes that England’s selectors believe make him a viable replacement for crocked speedsters Jofra Archer and Olly Stone.

Indeed, despite only making his Vitality Blast debut on June 6, he was picked 70 days later for the four-match Twenty20 series against New Zealand, only for a side strain to rule him out.

The statistics spoke for themselves: 21 wickets in 11 appearances, and an outstanding economy rate of 6.67 runs per over.

Turner took 21 wickets in this season’s T20 Blast and had an impressive economy rate

But Turner identifies an increase in pace as the chief reason firstly for getting noticed, then being awarded an ECB development contract plus places in England one-day and T20 squads to tour the Caribbean later this month.

‘When I first came over, I kind of fell into the trap of wanting to bowl a good line and length, swing it or nibble it a bit whereas this time last year I said to myself: I want to bowl fast. I thought my body could do that, and when I see the speed gun get to 90 miles an hour or just a bit over, it’s a great feeling,’ he says.

Turner’s bowling has been provided with extra wheels via a refinement of his action, working under Hampshire’s excellent bowling coach Graeme Welch. Where once his arm jerked in towards his rib cage during delivery, it now completes a smooth sweep from a high release point, accentuating the bounce he produces.

He will spend the next few days testing out the England Lions batters in Abu Dhabi, before joining up with the full squad for the West Indies series.

‘It’s still very much a pinch-me thing,’ he says of his meteoric rise.

‘I can’t really put words to how I feel because it’s just unbelievable, to be honest. I was washing my training kit the other day up in Loughborough, and I was looking at it thinking “how on earth have I got here, from where I was last year?” My goal coming into last season was to try and make my T20 debut for Hampshire or play a County Championship game.

England had a dismal Cricket World Cup and are now looking to bring in fresh players for the future, handing Turner his chance to impress next month

‘My dream growing up was always to play international cricket and try to be the best in the world at it, and obviously at that stage it was for the Proteas.

‘But the door opened for me to potentially play for England and it was a no brainer for me.’

There will be plenty of intense thinking ahead, however. Turner is a third year Economics and Finance student at Exeter University, and that means essays and other assignments being completed while in the Caribbean. He has been offered the chance to defer his finals next May, but has declined, saying ‘it’s easier if I just have one year of absolute chaos, then, 100% cricket after that.’

He may have got here in a rush, and via an unusual route, but it sounds like Turner is in it for the long haul.

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