England have been handed a significant blow ahead of the T20 World Cup after Reece Topley was ruled out with an ankle injury.
Jos Buttler’s side are currently preparing for their opening game of the tournament, which takes place against Afghanistan on Saturday.
However, they will do so without Topley after a scan revealed that the pace bowler had ruptured two ankle ligaments during the warm-up ahead of the final warm-up fixture with Pakistan earlier this week.
On a personal level, it is a hammer blow for the 28-year-old after an injury-ravaged career, already having to miss major tournaments through time on the sidelines.
Topley has also been a regular in England’s T20 fixtures through this year, collecting 17 wickets from 16 outings and he had been on course to feature frequently in Australia.
Instead, he will now fly home for surgery on the injury, with England due to select a replacement in the next 24 hours.
While Tymal Mills is the favourite to come into the squad, England also have Richard Gleeson and Liam Dawson as travelling reserves.