England bowler Topley set to miss T20 World Cup with ankle injury

England suffer an injury blow on eve of T20 World Cup with bowler Reece Topley ruled out of the whole tournament after rolling his ankle during a fielding drill… with Tymal Mills likely to replace him

  • Topley stepped on the ‘Toblerone’ boundary foam during a fielding practice
  • Bowler rolled his ankle and has now been ruled out of the T20 World Cup
  • England open their campaign against Afghanistan in Perth on Saturday
  • Tymal Mills is likely to be called up from the travelling reserves 

England suffered a setback here today when Reece Topley was ruled out of the Twenty20 World Cup.

The left-arm seamer is the latest England player to suffer a freak injury, having trodden on the ‘Toblerone’ boundary foam taking catches during fielding practice ahead of Monday’s warm-up win over Pakistan in Brisbane and rolled his ankle.

Initially England were hopeful it was not serious but scans revealed that Topley, 28, has suffered ligament damage and will be sidelined for the entire month-long tournament.

England seamer Reece Topley is out of the T20 World Cup after suffering an ankle injury

Topley takes a catch to dismiss Haider Ali during the recent T20 series against Pakistan 

It is a desperate blow for a bowler who has suffered more than his share of injuries and overcame four stress fractures of his back in five years before fighting back to cement a place in England’s first-choice Twenty20 line-up.

Topley is likely to be replaced in the squad by fellow left-armer Tymal Mills, one of the three travelling reserves here with England and a seriously quick bowler who has looked impressive in practice.

But England will have to re-think their line-up for Saturday’s first World Cup game against Afghanistan here in Perth, with Chris Jordan likely to step into Topley’s place.

Richard Gleeson, seen bowling in the recent Pakistan series, could come in for Topley

Tymal Mills is another option for England but he is short of match practice in recent weeks

Jordan, England’s leading T20 wicket-taker and a specialist at the death, had appeared set to miss out because of the form of Topley, Sam Curran and Chris Woakes on his own return from injury. 

But now he looks sure to come in for the ever unfortunate Topley.

The news will be confirmed by England as soon as the ICC have sanctioned Mills in Topley’s squad place.

The news comes as a bitter blow for Topley, who has overcome several back problems




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