England are potentially facing a big injury blow after the team's record-breaking defeat against South Africa in the 20th match of the ICC World Cup 2023 on Saturday, October 21. In-form pacer Reece Topley is facing World Cup exit after suffering a broken finger injury against South Africa at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium
Head coach Matthew Mott revealed that the right-arm pacer is suffering a crack to his finger and the team is waiting for diagnosis results before making any big decisions. Topley was once again the team's best bowler with three wickets against the Proteas but it was not enough to stop them scoring a huge total of 399.
"I thought Reece Topley going back out to bowl with a broken finger showed great spirit," Matthew Mott told Sky Sports. "We're still waiting on that, but it's very much looking like it's a crack. Certainly, that's the early diagnosis, but we'll find out properly with X-rays."
England are likely to draft in pace replacement for Topley but it will not be the net bowler Jofra Archer. The speedster remains part of the team but Mott dismissed the talks of him coming as Topley's replacement.
"Jof is actually not going to be considered for selection. He's come out, he's reported to the medical staff, but he's not going to be able to play a part in the end of this campaign." Mott added.
The Three Lions have suffered three defeats in their four World Cup 2023 game and face a tough job to defend their title. Sam Curran and Chris Woakes were left out from South Africa game as David Willey and Gus Atkinson came in to join Mark Wood in pace attack on Saturday.
England World Cup squad: Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes, Jofra Archer (Net bowler)
