Next Gen: Why Turner could be England's McGrath

John Turner earned a wildcard pick with Trent Rockets after a stellar debut campaign in the Blast with Hampshire

Throughout the 2023 Hundred, BBC Sport is running a feature series called England Next Gen, designed to look at players who may make the step up to international cricket in the next few years. Next up is Trent Rockets and Hampshire fast bowler John Turner.

During an impressive campaign in the T20 Blast for Hampshire Hawks, John Turner bagged 21 wickets at an average of 11.76 and an economy of 6.67 - the best of anyone who had bowled more than 10 overs in the competition.

The 22-year-old was born in Johannesburg but officially qualified for England earlier this month and has been picked as a wildcard for The Hundred with Trent Rockets.

BBC Sport has spoken to four people who have seen him at close quarters to gain an insight into his impressive rise, understand the type of bowler he is and why an international career is beckoning.

• 'Atkinson is what England are looking for'
• 'Generational talent' Smith targets England recognition in all formats
• Meet Jafer Chohan - the note-taking spinner

'A humble guy with a burning determination'

Michael Booth, who was South Africa Under-17 cricketer of the year in 2019 and is now on the books of Warwickshire, opened the bowling with Turner for Hilton College in South Africa and saw his impressive pedigree from a young age.

"If you see the way he celebrates a wicket in the T20 Blast it's exactly how he did at school throughout all the age groups. No matter what it was he was always up for the game. John is someone who has always had that burning determination.

"He was the head boy at school and he got six or seven As, but was a very calm and humble person. He is an only child and maybe, initially at least, his parents sheltered him a little bit and were not particularly [keen] on him playing cricket in England as a career.

"His dad is a lawyer and his mum runs a shoe company and both of them said his academic studies came first, which is fair enough, and it took a lot of persuasion to let John fulfil his dream to be a cricketer alongside studying for a degree at Exeter University.

"Some parents are quite pushy when it comes to sport but that was never the case with John. The passion to play cricket came from within himself.

"You could always see he had a determination to make it. He enjoyed watching Stuart Broad bowl and aspired to be like him the most out of England's bowlers."

Michael Booth (left) played cricket at school with John Turner in South Africa

'He reminds me of Glenn McGrath...'

Gloucestershire coach Dale Benkenstein first cast eyes on Turner when he was working as head of cricket at Hilton College in South Africa, and helped him earn a contract at Hampshire.

"John had a beautiful action, even when he was very small at school. When he grew into his mid-teens he was able to keep that repeatable action. It was very high, and a wrist which helped him push the ball in a little bit. There were a lot of fundamentals there which I think any coach would have liked.

"He was also a hockey goalkeeper which helped him develop a great all-round physical strength along with the mental pressure of being the last line of defence. He does have that red mist which comes down every now and then, which I think you do need as a bowler, but he is really intelligent too.

"He reminds me of Glenn McGrath. He is not as tall but he has that repeatable action. I didn't see him as an out-an-out quick bowler but he bowls at a good pace.

"From what I have seen, and the reports back from our own batters at Gloucestershire, he is up there. He has the ability to bowl quick, high 80s, but not miss the right lines and lengths. He's done well in white-ball cricket but he looks a Test bowler to me.

"A lot of credit has to go Hampshire, and bowling coach Graeme Welch who is working with him. He has fine-tuned him. Hampshire got a racehorse and Graeme is turning him into a thoroughbred. He's really got a chance to make it to the highest level."

'Not a bad first wicket in professional cricket'

BBC Radio Solent commentator Kevan James, who played for Hampshire from 1985 to 1999, witnessed Turner's professional bow for the county when he snared England's all-time leading run-scorer in Test cricket in the Royal London One-Day Cup in July 2021.

"I think Alastair Cook was trying to work it into the leg side and spooned it up. It doesn't matter where it is, and to get a guy with over 12,000 Test runs as your first wicket isn't bad at all.

"Turner bowls a very tight line, tight narrow channels, in and around that off stump. He doesn't tend to deviate much from that. He hits the deck hard and is quite strong in the shoulders. He bowls with a decent pace and was beating batters for genuine pace in the T20 Blast this year.

"Some quicker bowlers let them slip down the leg side but he's much tighter than that. He doesn't bowl a lot of rubbish.

"He's only played two Championship games but the fact he's already done well in four-day cricket as well as T20 suggests that the guy has got what it takes. With the pace he bowls, and he doesn't waver from a good line and length, I think that's what will stand him in good stead. "

'The sky is the limit for JT'

Hampshire all-rounder Keith Barker, who has 499 first-class wickets, and knows a thing or two about bowling, is confident he will make the leap to international honours.

"Is John a potential England player of the future? 100%. The sky is the limit for JT. I remember being shown a video of him a few years back before Hants signed him and he looked quite the burner.

"When he came over you could see the attributes he had. I think he probably had to adjust his lengths slightly over here, and bowl a little bit fuller.

"It's the bounce he gets which I haven't really seen before from many other bowlers. He gets a lot when he gets it right. I think he's only going to get quicker. The next level now is him looking at his variations, his slower balls and that's something I think he has already identified with Graeme Welch.

"People are trying to take him on by ramping him, but they have found themselves quite rushed. Without giving too much away he's already looked at how he can counter that ramp shot.

"Playing in The Hundred will expose him to better players and keep learning his craft. Coming up against international players who have been there and done it and might not see his pace as so much of a threat. He might have to look at using different skills and ideas to get the better of them."

• Goodness Gracious Me: A '90s comedy classic that made TV history
• The face you know, the story you don't: The life and legacy of Marilyn Monroe from a modern perspective