After disclosing that his injury recovery is’slow going,’ England fast bowler Mark Wood will miss the forthcoming World Test Championship series against New Zealand and may not play for his country at all this summer.
The 32-year-old had an elbow injury during England’s March series loss to the West Indies, and is currently recovering from surgery.
Wood’s recuperation was never thought to be quick enough to put him in contention to face the current World Test Champions in a three-Test series in June. However, the paceman could still be unavailable for the series against South Africa at the end of the English summer, according to Wood, who revealed that this is the best-case scenario at the moment.
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This week, Wood informed reporters, “I’m off half a run-up.” “I’m expecting to finish my complete warm-up in the next few weeks and then play for Durham. However, things are moving slowly right now.
“At the moment, there’s a little swelling every time I bowl.” They told us that this is typical because my surgery was five weeks ago, and it’s still a little tender.
“If I can gain experience in one-day cricket first, it will be simpler for us to return to Test matches later in the summer. Although, based on the fast bowling roster, I believe we’re all attempting to get fit as quickly as possible, but progress is gradual at the moment.”
England and Wood will remain hopeful that the quick will be fully fit in time for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia in the autumn, but facing time on the sidelines is frustrating for a player who put in a lot of work during England’s winter tours to Australia and the Caribbean, where he played five Tests.
“Playing a bunch of games felt really good after perhaps two years of no injuries. It’s difficult to have a long layoff when I felt like I was getting close to the best phase of my England career: bowling consistently fast and taking wickets. But if I do return, I’ll be able to rely on the experience of the previous two years.”
Jofra Archer, Saqib Mahmood, and Matthew Fisher have all been ruled out with stress fractures in recent weeks, while Chris Woakes, Ollie Robinson, Olly Stone, and Sam Curran are all currently deemed unfit for selection.
Matthew Potts, an uncapped Durham quick, is one of four specialist pace bowlers picked in a 13-man squad for the opening Test at Lord’s, alongside James Anderson, Stuart Broad, and Craig Overton.
