Reece Topley, an England and Surrey seamer, has been forced to withdraw from the remainder of the ICC Men’s World Cup due to a fracture in his left index finger.
The injury occurred when Topley was hit on the index finger of his bowling hand while trying to stop a drive on his follow-through during the match against South Africa.
After the incident, initial assessments suggested a possible crack in his finger, and he underwent scans in Mumbai to assess the extent of the injury. The scans confirmed the fracture, and Topley will return to the UK for further evaluation and rehabilitation in collaboration with the England and Surrey medical teams.
Topley’s cricketing career has been marred by injuries, and he missed England’s successful T20 World Cup in Australia last year due to an accidental trip on a boundary sponge on the eve of the tournament.
While the ECB has not yet announced a replacement for Reece Topley in the ICC World Cup 2023, Jofra Archer, a right-arm fast bowler, is a strong candidate.
Archer, a key figure in England’s 2019 World Cup victory, joined the squad recently, but he has not played competitively since May. His time in India is primarily for England’s medical staff to assess his progress as he continues to recover from a longstanding elbow injury.
