According to English pacer Mark Wood, age is his main problem. He described the situation as an accident where his body couldn’t bear the pain of the injuries anymore despite his desperate attempts. Wood’s career has been characterized by injury after injury, and the most senior player in that English team admits he is now old.
The English team took a very strong pace attack to the Australian soil, and with or without the likes of James Anderson and Stuart Broad, it was probably the most promising English bowling deck in the Ashes. However, their campaign has been thwarted by injuries to key players.
Mark Wood, the superfast pace machine from England, is the most simultaneously qualified and experienced of these bowlers. But the 35-year-old, who had already been ruled out because of knee surgery, was able to bowl only 11 wicketless overs in Perth before being sidelined once again.
Mark Wood not considering a return before Adelaide Test
Mark Wood has himself cast a doubt on his availability for the third Ashes Test, which is scheduled to be played at the Adelaide Oval. He has addressed the issues he has been facing lately and has cited that age could be a factor playing the hindrance in his return.
During a tea break at the pink-ball Test in Brisbane, he told Channel 7 that it would be unexpected for him to play in the Adelaide match that begins on December 17. However, he was more optimistic about his return for the Boxing Day Test at the MCG.
“I think there’s a chance there, but more realistically, it’s probably more Melbourne and then [Sydney] after that… I need to get out of this [brace] first to get moving around,” said Wood.
He admitted that since the very first Test, he has been getting painkiller injections directly into his knee and also expressed that the progression of age is slowly but surely catching up with him.
“Throughout my career, I’ve been trying to be tough and just keep coming back and then pushing the limits where I can bowl faster and faster, but I’m getting older now,” he added.
“I don’t know if my body’s not coping with it as well [as it used to] but I’ll keep trying,” Mark Wood says
Mark Wood, despite the doubts imposed regarding his bodily attributes, takes pride running for England and thus he has been trying to get this right and return to the field. He has disclosed that now being on injections, he is currently planning to soon access running and then ultimately bowling.
“I don’t know if my body is not coping with it as well [as it used to] but I will continue to try. That is something I take pride in, to keep running in for the team and being a good team player. I am hoping I can get this right and can charge in again.
“I’m just trying to get through it day-by-day for now. Later in the series is what I’m aiming for, but I can’t do much at the moment. I’ve had a few injections, resting up, and slowly but surely, running [will] start soon, then back into bowling,” Wood concluded.
“It is more a matter of the mind than that of the body,” says Wood
Mark Wood is of the opinion that what he needs to go through now would be more of a mental challenge rather than a physical one. “It is more a matter of the mind than that of the body. You have to try to raise it again and come back in that probably the most difficult thing,” Wood commented.
However, the England captain is still looking forward to the day when his long-time partner Verstone can join him in the field again, as he noticed that with the abundant days left for the Adelaide Test and in the series, Wood would then definitely be available for the selection.
“There’s a lot more time left in this tour for us, and we’ll just wait to see how things unfold with that,” stated Ben Stokes.
