England paceman Topley ruled out of rest of West Indies tour

LONDON: England paceman Reece Topley has been ruled out of the rest of the team´s white-ball tour of the West Indies, the latest in a long line of setbacks.

The left-arm seamer fell to the ground in Saturday´s T20 series opener against the West Indies during a brief shower at the Kensington Oval in Barbados. He bowled one more delivery after a rain delay before leaving the pitch with a jarred right knee, smashing a chair in frustration, which meant he was fined 15 percent of his match fee.

“Reece Topley has been ruled out of the remainder of the T20I series against West Indies through injury, and is to fly home from St Lucia,” England said on X. After battling back from multiple career-threatening stress fractures of his back, Topley´s 2023 World Cup ended early because of a fractured finger. He missed the 2022 T20 World Cup, which England won, after rolling his ankle when treading on a boundary sponge days before the tournament started.