Even though under the leadership of Jos Buttler, England is enjoying a great time in the Caribbean during the five-match T20I series, having already sealed it with an undefeated 0-3 margin going into the last two clashes, they have received a massive blow with the injury of their veteran left-arm pacer, Reece Topley.
The 30-year-old is set to return home from the West Indies after jarring his right knee during the opening 20-over game at the Kensington Oval in Barbados. The Surrey bowler picked up the injury while he was in his delivery stride during the fifth over of the series last Saturday.
Later, he tried to bowl at the end of the short rain delay, but he left the ground after just one more delivery and could not take further part for the rest of the game. The injury was strong enough for him to miss the second game for England of the series at the same ground a day later.
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He will have a scan in London on November 15 to determine the extent of the damage. It has been the latest setback in his career, which has already been damaged a lot with an endless list of injuries.
Reece Topley to miss rest of the T20I series vs West Indies for England
The pacer walked up the steps of the players’ pavilion and was seen picking up a chair and smashing it on the staircase handrail. The reaction immediately earned him a fine from the International Cricket Council (ICC) amounting to 15% of his match fee.
“As he left the field and climbed the steps to the England dressing room, Topley picked up a chair and struck it against an iron handrail.” The official reported.
It’s nearly a similar reaction to what the England pacer had produced at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai during last year’s 50-over World Cup in October when he swiped another chair out of his path after leaving the field with what he later revealed as a potential tournament-ending break to his left index finger.
In 30 ODIs, the left-arm pacer has picked up 47 wickets at an average of 26.74 and a strike rate of 29.6. In the case of the 35 shortest format games, the England fast bowler has cracked 33 scalps at an average of 29.63 and a strike rate of 21.3 with an economy rate of 8.31. His vast experience of 226 wickets in 178 T20 innings at an average of 22.50 is something that the national side will miss a lot in the future.
The 30-year-old’s damaged knee joins a list of unfortunate issues, including the career-threatening stress fracture of the back and a rolled ankle- sustained on the boundary sponge during the practice game in Brisbane, which got him out of England’s successful T20 World Cup 2022 campaign.
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He escaped the punishment in the Mumbai game from the ICC but was found guilty this time around of a Level 1 breach of ICC’s Code of Conduct, with Article 2.2 relating to ‘abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings during an international match’.
The England veteran admitted the offense and accepted the sanction proposed by Richie Richardson, the match referee of the ICC. A demerit point has also been added to the disciplinary record of the pacer. If he reaches four or more demerit points within 2 years, he will be banned for one game. However, this is his first offense in the time period.