Brydon Carse replaces injured Reece Topley in England squad

Durham and Northern Superchargers pacer Brydon Carse has been roped in as the replacement for Reece Topley, who has been ruled out of England’s World Cup campaign with a finger injury. Even though Jofra Archer is currently with the England squad as a traveling reserve, he is not fit to take part in the tournament; hence, England selectors have decided to call Carse to join the squad in Bengaluru ahead of England’s next game against Sri Lanka.

"He's a brilliant all-round package," Joe Root told Sky Sports on Monday. "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."

Carse, who has 12 ODI caps and three T20I caps since making his debut in 2021, has made a reputation for his mean bouncer and the ability to contribute with the bat lower down the order. Root hopes Carse can contribute like Liam Plunkett did in the 2019 World Cup, especially in the middle overs.

"He almost feels like a junior Plunkett," Root said. "He's very similar. Pudsy [Plunkett] might not like me saying this, but he's probably got even more to offer with the bat as well."

After losing to South Africa, England now have found themselves in a very dire situation - from which they need to win all games to secure a knock-out berth. Root stated that England will approach the Sri Lanka game like it is a World Cup final and will give their best along the way.

"The situation we find ourselves in now, we've got to make sure that we're ready and in the best possible place to perform well in the next game," Root told Sky Sports. "We'll look at that as a World Cup final now - then do the same for the game after that, and the game after that. All we've got to do is really focus on Sri Lanka.

"I've played in a number of different England teams, good ones and bad ones. This is one of the very best. It's a very together team. We know what we need to do… We've got some very simple messaging in front of us right now: we have to go out and win. In some ways, that unshackles us and frees us up to do what we do,” Root added.