England seam bowler Reece Topley has been ruled out of the remainder of the T20 series against West Indies.
Topley – whose career has been blighted by injury, including stress fractures of the back – jarred his right knee in the first T20 in Barbados after slipping while bowling on a greasy surface shortly before a rain break.
The 30-year-old tried to continue his spell once play resumed but left the field after one further delivery, which went for six, and played no further part in the game or the second T20 at the same venue a day later.
England announced ahead of the third game of the five-match series, in St Lucia on Thursday, that Topley would fly home, with the paceman understood to be heading for scans in London on Friday.
The Surrey player’s 2023 50-over World Cup in India ended early because of a fractured finger, while he missed the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia after rolling his ankle on a boundary cushion in training days before the event.
Topley was understandably frustrated at his latest injury blow and threw a chair against a staircase handrail as he left the park in Barbados.
He was subsequently fined 15 per cent of his match fee and handed one demerit point.
Former England captain Sir Alastair Cook said of Topley on TNT Sports: “He seems to have one of those bodies where a little slip causes an injury. That just has to be luck.
“I knew Reece in my early days at Essex and he was very diligent in his fitness. He works incredibly hard but these things happen to him. You feel sorry for him.
“England need him as that tall left-arm option is so valuable with that new white ball. Let’s hope it’s not serious.”