ENG vs NZ: Mark Wood Too Ruled Out

England’s Test team has been dealt a major blow ahead of the three-match series against New Zealand at home, as fast bowler Mark Wood has announced that he will miss the upcoming World Test Championship match and may not play for his country at all this summer after revealing that his injury recovery is “slow going.”

Wood was one of several injured England seamers who were ruled out of the opening Test against the Kane Williamson-led Black Caps, which begins on June 2 at Lord’s. However, the bowler has been ruled out of the entire series against New Zealand, as well as the upcoming series against South Africa.

England Are Dealing With Fast Bowling Crisis Due To Injuries

Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Ollie Robinson, Olly Stone, Saqib Mahmood, and Matthew Fisher are among the bowlers who have been ruled out of the first Test.

Wood, 32, injured his elbow in England’s 0-1 series loss to the West Indies in March and is currently undergoing rehabilitation following 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 be unavailable for the series against South Africa at the end of the English summer, with the bowler admitting that is currently the best-case scenario.

 “I’m hoping that I can get off my full run-up in the next couple of weeks and then hopefully play for Durham after that. But at the minute it’s a little bit slow going.

“Every time I bowl at the moment there’s still a bit of swelling. They’ve assured us that that’s normal, because I’ve had surgery five weeks ago, so it’s obviously still a little bit raw.

“If I can build up through one-day cricket first, that will make it easier for us to then come back in the Test matches later in the summer. But, from the roster of fast bowling, I think we’re all trying to get fit as quickly as we can, but it’s slow going at the minute,” Wood was quoted as saying by ICC.

England and Wood will remain optimistic that the fast bowler will be completely fit in time for the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia later this year.

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