World falls apart for luckless Topley as injury strikes
REECE TOPLEY overcame four stress fractures of his back in five years to finally cement his place as a key component in England’s World Cup challenge. Then it all fell apart when he trod on a sponge boundary marker nicknamed the ‘Toblerone’. How cruel is the ankle injury that will probably require surgery and, the ECB confirmed yesterday, keep Topley out of this Twenty20 World Cup.
How desperately unlucky is the bowler who has battled seemingly constant adversity only to miss out on a tournament that should, at 28, be the pinnacle of his career. Nothing summed up the plight of the left-armer who had been earmarked for a crucial role at the death of the opposition innings more than the fact that his parents, Don and Julia, were in transit on their way to Perth when news broke that Topley had severely damaged ligaments. And all he was doing was having catching practice in Brisbane. Topley’s mum was in tears when she stopped off at Singapore en route to Perth ahead of England’s World Cup opener against Afghanistan on Saturday and discovered the news.
There was no going back for Don, the former Essex seamer, and his wife then. England will now rue the ICC’s unfathomable decision to send them to the Gabba to take on Pakistan in a meaningless warm-up match on Monday even more. They did not want to play that game and now it has cost them the services of an important bowler.
The fact the latest freak injury occurred during a seemingly innocuous fielding practice ahead of a game he was not even due to play in will only add salt to Topley’s wounds as he contemplates another lengthy spirit-sapping spell on the sidelines. Topley’s misfortune has opened the door to another left-armer, Tymal Mills, who was yesterday ratified by the ICC as the official replacement and will take his place in the squad after impressing here as a travelling reserve alongside Richard Gleeson and Liam Dawson.
Lancashire’s Luke Wood will now travel to Australia to complete the reserves and will join England in Melbourne next week. But England still have to decide who steps up to take Topley’s place at the Perth Stadium on Saturday, with a number of bowlers jockeying for position.
Sam Curran had already been earmarked for a place in the side alongside banker bowlers Mark Wood and Adil Rashid but Chris Jordan, Chris Woakes and David Willey are all in contention to take the role that Topley had made his own.