Reece Topley has been ruled out of England’s T20 World Cup campaign after the ankle injury he suffered ahead of Monday’s final warm-up game was found to be worse than first feared.
Topley rolled an ankle after stepping on a boundary cushion during fielding practice ahead of the win over Pakistan in Brisbane and is set to fly home to undergo surgery after scans revealed ligament damage.
The injury is a cruel personal blow for Topley, who was one of England’s stars of the white-ball summer and skipped the second half of The Hundred in order to ensure his fitness for the World Cup.
England has named Tymal Mills as Topley’s replacement, with Luke Wood added as travelling reserve.
Mills was part of England’s squad at last year’s T20 World Cup in the UAE and his skills at the death were particularly missed after his campaign was cut short by a thigh problem, at which point he was, ironically, replaced in the squad by Topley.
Mills has himself not played since August because of a toe injury and skipped the recent T20 tour of Pakistan in order to fly straight to Australia to join the England camp.
Despite Topley’s injury, England still have difficult selection decisions to make ahead of Saturday’s Super 12 opener against Afghanistan, with Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan and David Willey all competing for places alongside the likes of Mark Wood and Adil Rashid in their bowling attack.
