Wednesday 13 April 2016 16:35, UK
Hampshire and England bowler Reece Topley has been ruled out of action for between six and eight weeks due to his hand injury.
Topley's spell on the sidelines was confirmed by a specialist after he fractured his right hand on the opening day of the County Championship season.
The 22-year-old was making his debut for Hampshire on Monday, after moving from Essex over the winter, when he was hit on the hand by a bouncer from Warwickshire paceman Boyd Rankin.
Topley, who was batting at an unfamiliar position of nine, had managed to make a career best 15 at the Ageas Bowl before departing.
He has been told by the hand specialist that he will not require surgery and if he recovers quickly he could be back in time for the start of Hampshire's T20 Blast campaign which gets under way on May 27 with a match against Middlesex.
The injury is a blow to Topley, who was playing in his first match since the ICC World Twenty20 in India.
After starting the first two games at the tournament, he was dropped and did not play any further part in England's impressive run to the final.
He should recover in time for the limited-overs internationals against Sri Lanka, beginning in late June.
