Image Credit- AFP
Reece Topley has been officially disqualified from the
remainder of the World Cup after tests revealed a fracture in his left index
finger. England will look to find “an X-factor player” to take his
place.
In England’s 229-run loss against South Africa, Topley
was struck while fielding a ball off his own bowling and was unable to finish
his fourth over. With his fingers taped together, he went back to bowl five
more overs, but he was unable to bat, and the ECB announced on Sunday night
that his World Cup was over.
Although Topley’s replacement in England’s 15-man team
has not yet been decided, Jofra Archer was officially ruled out on Saturday
night. Archer joined England’s team in Mumbai last week as part of his recovery
from an elbow stress fracture.
He was initially described as a travelling reserve but
Matthew Mott, England’s coach, clarified that he was not in the picture to
replace Topley: “He’s not going to be able to play a part in the end of
this campaign,” Mott said. He has since left India, though the ECB insist
that his rehabilitation is progressing as expected.
The Durham fast bowler Brydon Carse is the favourite
to replace Topley in the squad because he participated in both the
second-string team that played Ireland and one ODI against New Zealand last
month. But Mott emphasised that England will also take other possibilities into
account.
“Good question,” Mott said, asked if England
would replace Topley with another seamer. “We’ll have to sit down and have
a look at that. We’ll have to look at the upcoming games. If there is an
X-factor player we can look at… that’s why we were very keen not to name the
replacements and reserves, and it leaves a bit of an open mind for what we
might go with.”