England and Surrey lose injured Reece Topley to side strain

The left-arm seamer has been ruled out for between four and six weeks, will not feature in the T20 Blast group stage and could miss the entire international white-ball schedule

England men's cricket fixtures - summer 2021: Full schedule and dates

T20 Blast fixtures 2021: Full schedule, dates

Reece Topley is struggling to be fit in time for England's white-ball summer after a side strain ruled him out for a maximum of six weeks.

The 27-year-old pulled up during a second XI clash for Surrey with Essex on Wednesday (June 2).

Vikram Solanki's side will be without the injury-troubled left-arm seamer for their entire T20 Blast group campaign which begins on June 10 against Middlesex and runs until July 16. 

Topley, who has previously battled major back problems, will also not feature in the LV=Insurance County Championship matches against Hampshire (July 4-7) and Somerset (July 11-14) "given the likelihood that he will be unable to return to high-intensity training until the middle of July."

The blow will likely have a significant knock-on effect for England's limited-overs schedule across the next two months.

Sri Lanka are due for three T20s (June 24, 26 and 29) and a trio of ODIs (July 1, 4 and 8).

Pakistan are the opponents for three 50-over games (July 8, 10 and 13) before the white-ball schedule is capped off with a T20 series (July 16, 18 and 20).

The extended absence will also hinder Topley's hopes of staking a claim to be involved in the T20 World Cup in October and November.

He was part of the squad for the India T20s in March and though overlooked is very much part of the selection conversation. Topley then played in two of the three ODIs in Pune.

For Surrey, it is confirmation of a second injury in as many days after the news overseas signing Sean Abbott will fly home to Australia after suffering a hamstring blow.