England’s left-arm speedster Reece Topley has been replaced by the inexperienced pacer Brydon Carse for the remaining matches of the World Cup. During England’s clash against South Africa, Topley fractured his left index finger and has been ruled out for the remainder of the tournament.
Even though Jofra Archer has been travelling with the squad as a reserve player, the defending champions do not appear to have plans to call on his services. They have turned to Carse and added the right-armer to their 15-player squad. “The Event Technical Committee of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 has approved Brydon Carse as a replacement for Reece Topley in the England squad. The replacement of a player requires the approval of the Event Technical Committee before the replacement player can be officially added to the squad,” ICC said in a statement. The Event Technical Committee of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 consists of Wasim Khan (ICC General Manager – Cricket and ETC Chair), Chris Tetley (ICC Head of Events), Hemang Amin (Acting CEO – BCCI), Gaurav Saxena (General Manager – Operations, BCCI), Russel Arnold and Simon Doull (Independent Representatives). England batter Joe Root feels that the addition of Carse will add a different dimension to their squad.
“He’s a brilliant all-round package. He can score some handy runs for you, is very dynamic in the field and has a unique wicket-taking ability. He’s got that [Ben] Stokes element to him where sometimes, you feel like nothing is happening and he’ll pick up wickets,” he said, according to Sky Sports.
On Sunday, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) ruled out Topley from the tournament. “England and Surrey seamer Reece Topley has been ruled out of the rest of the ICC Men’s World Cup after fracturing his left index finger during England’s defeat to South Africa on Saturday,” it said. Carse can make his first appearance in the World Cup against Sri Lanka on Thursday. England squad: Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes, Brydon Carse, David Willey, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes.
