Hampshire's Reece Topley has signed a white-ball contract for the forthcoming season - but is still targeting 100 Test wickets.

Topley has been restricted to three first-class appearances in his first two seasons at Hampshire and will not play any this year as his rehabilitation continues.

Hampshire have agreed to a proposal put forward by the ECB for the 24 year-old left-armer to only play in the Royal London Cup and the Natwest T20 Blast.

Topley said: “It's been a frustrating time for me as a young bowler.

"It is hoped that this proposal will assist me by preventing further injury as my body matures.

"Going forward, I do hope to return to red-ball cricket and still harbour ambitions of being the first left-arm fast bowler to take 100 Test wickets for England but that remains a long-term goal.

“The short-term goal is simply to return to performing for Hampshire and only then perhaps to try and resurrect playing for England where I am still ambitious to add to my 16 caps.

"I would like to thank Hampshire for their understanding and continued support and cannot wait for the coming season.”

Director of cricket, Giles White said: “Reece’s attitude to his rehab and recovery has been outstanding and he deserves for things to go his way this year.

“Reece’s intentions for red-ball cricket are clear, and the longer-form of the game is still something that is important to him in the future.

"This move is something that ourselves, Reece and the ECB feel is the best route to take this season, for him to be able to achieve his long-term goals at both domestic and international level.

"We've got to be smart with how much cricket he plays.

"There have been a couple of adjustments to his technique to take the pressure off his back and if we get his workload right we’ll get him through a season and then build from there.

"He's at an age where his bones are starting to harden and as a bowler that’s where you get your stress fractures.

"So we’ve got to work with him through this period and then hopefully out the other end where hopefully he’ll be playing lots of cricket and taking lots of wickets in all forms."

Topley is the third England player to sign a white-ball deal this month, but with returning to full fitness the main reason, his decision is very different to that made by Alex Hales and Adil Rashid.

He broke a hand on his Hampshire debut and missed most of last season with the third and fourth stress fractures of his career.

But he has had an encouraging winter with the ECB Pace Programme.

"I feel for Reece, he’s a very talented young player and a great character in the changing room but we haven’t seen him play enough and he’s frustrated by that," continued White.

"In time I’m sure he can play a big role. He’s very resilient and keeps bouncing back. He deserves it to go well because he works as hard as anyone."

Hampshire's only injury concern at the moment is rookie seamer Chris Sole, 24, who White also expects to be challenging for a place in limited-overs competition this year.

"Chris has a hamstring injury but is a young quick I anticipate pushing in white-ball cricket," he added.

Reece Topley's Hampshire record
First-class matches/wickets/average: 3/2/89.00.
Twenty20 matches/wickets/average/economy rate: 7/7/27.57/8.04.
One-day matches/wickets/average/economy rate: 5/9/33.33/6.59