Mark Wood has given England a huge Ashes injury scare ahead of next week’s first Test after experiencing hamstring pain in the opening hours of the warm-up match at Lilac Hill.
Wood, 35, was bowling in a match situation for the first time since injuring his left knee in the Champions Trophy nine months ago, sending down two four-over spells against England Lions, before leaving the field midway through the afternoon session.
With the issue in his same leg, England are taking no chances and the Durham fast bowler was due to undergo a scan on Friday, exactly a week before the series begins 10 miles up the road at Optus Stadium.
‘The plan for Mark Wood was for him to bowl eight overs today,’ read an ECB statement.
‘He has some stiffness in his hamstring, which kept him off the field for some time during the second session of the first day and will undergo a precautionary scan tomorrow. He is expected to bowl again in two days’ time.’
Bowling again, however, will depend on a favourable result from his radiographer’s appointment.
This was Wood’s first intensive workout since damaging his left knee during defeat to Afghanistan in Lahore in February, and some level of soreness was to be expected.
But with the set-back being so close to the Ashes starting, it decreases the chances of England’s most prolific bowler of the 2021-22 series here will lining up for his country alongside fellow fast bowler Jofra Archer on Australia’s quickest pitch.
On the eve of this three-day contest, England captain Ben Stokes salivated at the prospect, saying: ‘It would be exciting wouldn’t it?’
Thanks to six wickets from Stokes, England dismissed their understudies for 382 on a surface that is the polar opposite of the one anticipated for the first Test.
But it was the well-being of one of the team’s most popular characters that was on everyone’s mind.
‘It’s not ideal is it? But that’s part of being an extremely fast bowler,’ said vice-captain Harry Brook post play.
Wood last played Test cricket against Sri Lanka as far back as August 2024, and was forced to abort two comeback attempts last summer – firstly for the fifth Test versus India, then for the limited-overs matches against South Africa – because fluid was gathering on his rehabilitated knee.
A bowler who claimed an England high 17 wickets in four appearances during the 4-0 loss to the Australians here four years ago charged in as second change, his speed through the air emphasised when he knocked Jordan Cox off his feet with a full delivery, shortly after switching ends at the Midland Guildford club ground.
Wood began this Ashes preparation training on England’s recent limited-overs tour of New Zealand, and appeared to be operating in top gear during centre-wicket bowling at the Basin Reserve, Wellington, a fortnight ago.
Brydon Carse, another member of England’s bowling arsenal, was unable to take his place in the England XI due to overnight sickness, and so it was the golden arm of Stokes that made the breakthroughs – incredibly, all six of his successes coming from short balls.
In what was a fitness test following the shoulder issue that ruled him out of the fifth Test against India in August, Stokes returned figures of 16-3-52-6, striking twice in each of his three spells.
‘He’s a proper player, so it’s good to have him back in the side and leading from the front,’ Brook said.
Stokes borrowed the old aviation phrase ‘balls to the wall’ – relating to an engine operating at maximum thrust – to express how he expected his players to tackle their only warm-up before attempting to become the first England team to win here in 15 years.
But the featherbed pitch, tranquil outground setting and smattering of a few hundred travelling fans left it devoid of the kind of hostility associated with Ashes tour openings.
It took a passing motorist to serve a reminder of the traditional welcome, bellowing ‘f*** you, you Pommie c***s,’ as he went about his mid-morning business on the road adjacent to the venue.
One selection that did raise eyebrows was England’s omission of Shoaib Bashir from their XI.
Although Australia’s Nathan Lyon is the most prolific bowler in five Test matches at Perth’s Optus Stadium with 29, team-mate Travis Head with three is the next most successful spinner.
On one hand, it suggests England are considering an all-seam attack for the series opener a week on Friday.
On the other, Bashir will be better prepared for Test cricket bowling at the Test top six – players of the ilk of Joe Root and Harry Brook – than their Lions equivalents, whose total was built by half-centuries from Ashes squad member Will Jacks, Ben McKinney, Cox and 17-year-old Thomas Rew.
And then taken to a different level by Matt Potts getting to a 40-ball 50 with four consecutive sixes off Joe Root and a hooked effort off Jofra Archer.
Pre-tour chat has focused on Root’s lack of a hundred on Australian soil, but he would not have expected to rectify that statistic with the ball – his off-spinners being taken for 117 off just 14 overs.
