Monday 11 April 2016 15:18, UK
England bowler Reece Topley has been ruled out of the rest of Hampshire's match against Warwickshire after suffering a fracture to his hand on the opening day of the County Championship season.
Topley, who was making his debut for the county after signing from Essex last summer, was hit on the right hand by a bouncer from Ireland international Boyd Rankin.
The 22 year-old revealed he had suffered at least one fracture to his hand and would be seeing a specialist later this week.
"Unfortunately I got one on the back of the hand yesterday so I rushed off for an X-ray and unfortunately there's a fracture in there," he said.
"There's at least one, there might be a few but we're not sure yet - I have to see a hand specialist later but I suppose that's one of the risks of the job of cricket."
Topley, who was batting at an unfamiliar position of nine, had managed to make a career best 15 before departing. The pace bowler shared a vital 51-run stand with Ryan McLaren to help the home side recover from 87-7 to 138-8.
Hampshire eventually ended the first day on 189-8 and Topley was pleased with his contribution.
"I was delighted and I don't think anything can be taken away from Macca and how he played," said Topley.
"I think he was 84 not out overnight which was a tremendous effort considering the position we were in. We just had to hang around no matter what the circumstances were.
"I don't know how I ended up at nine but I had to repay the coaches for the faith they'd put in me, and do a job at least."
The injury is a blow to Topley, who was playing in his first match since the ICC World T20 in India.
After starting the first two games at the tournament, the 22 year-old was dropped and did not play any further part in England's impressive run to the final.
And, although he was unhappy with his performance on the sub-continent, he believes he has gained valuable experience at international level.
"Being 22 years old and on that sort of stage was unbelievable for myself," he said. "Even when there are bad times, like I did experience early on, you have to remember how lucky you are to be where you are and how jealous others would be.
"You have to take every moment you have when you're away and relish it. I like to think that, although it didn't go so well for me personally, it was great to be part of that memorable tournament that I'm sure people will talk about for years to come."
