Mark Wood has been ruled out of England’s Test trips to Pakistan and New Zealand after scans found a “bone stress injury of the right elbow”. Wood has missed the last two matches of the summer because of a thigh injury sustained during the first game of the series against Sri Lanka but had already been managing stiffness and discomfort in his arm, which he had noticed during July’s three-match series against West Indies.
The 34-year-old has struggled previously with injuries to the same elbow, which required an operation in 2022. He is hoping surgery will not be necessary this time, and that he will return to fitness in time for the white-ball tour of India in January and February, which will be their first with Brendon McCullum in charge of the limited-overs side, and for the Champions Trophy, currently scheduled to be played in Pakistan, that follows it.
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England’s depleted red-ball bowling group will be able to call on the knowledge of Jimmy Anderson during their winter tours after the 42-year-old, who has taken on a mentoring role since his retirement in July, revealed he would travel with the team to Pakistan and New Zealand.
Meanwhile, Ben Duckett hailed Ollie Pope’s return to form after England’s stand-in captain, who had scored just 30 runs in his first four innings of the series, produced an unbeaten century on the first day of the final Test against Sri Lanka at the Oval. Pope reached 103 off 103 balls before bad light intervened for the second time in the day to bring it to an early conclusion, with England 221 for three.
“There’s a lot of noise around Popey and to block that out and go out and score an incredible hundred was so good,” Duckett said. “To go two games without a big score, it’s not a long time. Facing the new ball in England, I know how tricky it can be and for him to go out and express himself at a ground that he loves, it’s just a credit to him. He’s taken over as Test captain and it’s had no impact on him.”
Duckett had seemed to be on his way to a similar total until, having scored 86 off 79 balls, he got out attempting a scoop. The 29-year-old has scored three Test centuries in 48 innings, but has been dismissed six times having passed 75 and without reaching triple figures.
“No one’s more disappointed than I am. I’ve always prided myself on scoring hundreds, but if I’d started playing differently to get myself to a hundred I would have been more disappointed with myself,” he said. “It’s a shot I’ve been thinking about playing in Test cricket for a long time and it felt like the right option. It won’t be the last time I play that shot.”
Aaqib Javed, Sri Lanka’s bowling coach, said his side had been guilty of getting overexcited after winning the toss in apparently ideal bowling conditions. “There was a lot going on in their minds: ‘Oh, this is the best day for swing bowling and the best chance of taking wickets.’ Sometimes you try to calm them down but the excitement level is too much,” he said. “I think we didn’t bowl good today. Still there is a lot in this game so we have to show our character tomorrow morning. The bowlers will rest and come up with something better than this.”
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