Richard Gleeson overlooked as England suffer T20 World Cup injury blow

Topley rolled his left ankle after standing on a boundary advertisement cushion and then landing awkwardly during some catching drills ahead of England’s warm-up win over Pakistan in Brisbane on Monday.

Scans have shown ligament damage so Mills, one of England’s three travelling reserves who include Blackpool’s Richard Gleeson, has been upgraded to the 15-strong squad.

An England and Wales Cricket Board statement said: “Surrey and England seamer Reece Topley has been ruled out of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup with ligament damage to his left ankle.

“Sussex seamer Tymal Mills has been drafted into England’s squad, having travelled to Australia as a reserve.”

Gleeson was also an option but England have gone for more of a like-for-like replacement in Mills, who has not played since August 10 because of a toe injury.

Gleeson’s Lancashire team-mate, Luke Wood, will link up with England in Melbourne, where they head after opening their campaign in Perth on Saturday against Afghanistan.

It has not been determined when Topley will go back home and, while he is not expected to have an operation, he will be assessed on his return to the UK and is likely to be out until early next year.

It is an unfortunate role reversal from last year’s World Cup, when Mills was an injury withdrawal and then replaced by Topley.

While Topley did not make any appearances then, he has gone on to become an increasingly dependable figure in 2022 after overcoming multiple stress fractures to his back in recent years.

Topley has taken 17 wickets in 16 T20s this year with an impressive economy rate of 7.8 given he operates mainly in the powerplay at the death.

The 28-year-old, who is currently ranked as the second-best seamer in T20 internationals, in a list dominated by spinners, was considered highly likely to be in England’s XI this weekend.

England already have left-arm options in Sam Curran and David Willey while Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Chris Jordan and all-rounder Ben Stokes are England’s other seam bowlers.