(Image source: X.com)
[Saba Sports News] England white-ball head coach Matthew Mott dismissed the speculations about Jofra Archer replacing England left-handed pacer Reece Topley for the remainder of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.
In the 20th match of the World Cup 2023 against South Africa on Saturday at Wankhede Stadium, Topley injured his index finger in the first innings. He left the field right away, but returned after receiving treatment and ended up with figures of 8.5-0-88-3. However, on Sunday evening, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) confirmed that Topley has been ruled out of the rest of the tournament.
“Scans in Mumbai on Saturday, after the match at the Wankhede Stadium, revealed the full extent of the injury. Topley will return to the UK in the next 24 hours. He will work closely with the England and Surrey medical teams in respect of his rehabilitation. A replacement will be announced in due course,” ECB released a statement.
Archer, who is also undergoing an injury rehab in India, has already been ruled out as a replacement option by Mott. Moreover, he also applauded the spirit of Topley, who came back to the field despite having a broken finger.
“I thought Reece Topley going back out to bowl with a broken finger showed great spirit. 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,” Mott told Sky Sports.
“Jof (Jofra Archer) 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,” he added.
Furthermore, Mott also shed light on the heartbreaking loss of England by 229 runs against South Africa in which the Jos Buttler-led side got bundled out for 170 in 22 overs while chasing 400 runs.
As England received scrutiny for deciding to chase at the Wankhede Stadium, Mott gave a reasoning for this. He stated that they chose to bowl first after looking at the ground stats, which suggested that batting second has benefited teams more in the past in this venue.
“I can’t sugarcoat that, it was a hard night for us. I think we come in with really good intentions in this game. It was a fantastic cricket wicket. We looked at the ground stats, it said it was a good chasing ground. On reflection, I thought the heat was probably more than we bargained for. It certainly looked a little bit like a warzone there at times, particularly after Topley went off,” Mott added.
England’s next World Cup clash is scheduled versus Sri Lanka on October 26 at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru.