England seamer Reece Topley has been ruled out of the T20 World Cup due to an ankle injury, dealing a major blow to the team’s campaign beginning on Saturday.
The 28-year-old left-armer rolled his left ankle during a fielding drill in Brisbane on Monday ahead of England’s final warm-up match against Pakistan.
He will now play no part in the main tournament, England Cricket Twitter handle revealed.
It is understood that the scans taken after the injury have revealed significant damage.
News we didn’t want to bring you.
Reece Topley has been ruled out of the #T20WorldCup
We are all gutted for you and we are all here for you, Toppers
More here: https://t.co/KdJWsh3VWA pic.twitter.com/gVofwSQnNf
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) October 19, 2022
England, who play against Afghanistan in their opening match here on Saturday, have two fast bowlers among their travelling reserves — left-armer Tymal Mills and right-arm quick Richard Gleeson.
Mills, who has not played since August because of a toe injury, is most likely to be promoted into the full squad as Topley’s replacement.
Topley is England’s leading wicket-taker in T20 Internationals in 2022, with 17 scalps in 16 games at an average of 28. He became an integral part of England’s T20 bowling attack, operating with the new ball and at the death.
He has had four back stress fractures in five years, most recently in 2018, which led him to consider retirement.
In last year’s T20 World Cup in the UAE, Mills played four matches, picking up seven wickets, before his tournament was ended by a thigh injury. PTI PDS PDS AH