Nate Syver-Brunt: England captain uses rare treatment to try to be fit for T20 World Cup

Sciver-Brunt first injured his calf on 29 April, which was then described as “minor” by England while playing domestic cricket.

He later sat out the series against New Zealand and India at the start of the international summer before returning for England’s World Cup warm-up matches.

The England captain came out of practice against Australia and India and the World Cup opener against Sri Lanka but reported ‘tightness’ in the win against Ireland 10 days ago.

He has not played since and England will either play their semi-final on Tuesday or Thursday next week, depending on other results.

“One thing you need is time,” Worth said.

“You need time for the muscles to repair and then strengthen the right way. Those timeframes are tight, especially given the history of previous injuries in the same area, but not impossible.”

Calf injuries are a regular problem for cricketers. England’s leading wicket-taker James Anderson had a calf problem towards the end of his career.

This is due to factors specific to cricket, such as batsmen having to sprint from a standing start or bowlers hitting their front foot into the crease in their delivery stride, and muscle make-up, said Wirth.

“You have two different types of tissue that come together,” he said. “You have the calf which is the upper part and then the Achilles tendon.

“Wherever there are two types of tissue structurally, there is often a weak point.

“Things like taking a run, going from 0 to 100mph, are really hard to replicate in rehabilitation.

“Your inflammation calms down immediately, but the tendons are strained and need to be strengthened.

“It’s very difficult to achieve a balance between working the muscle enough and not pushing it too much.

“Often calf injuries are complicated because you think you’ve done the job and you get them back on the field in a match situation and something happens again.”