Brisbane: England pacer Mark Wood has been ruled out of the Ashes with a recurrence of the left-knee injury he sustained in the series opener in Perth. He will now return home to begin rehabilitation and recovery, ECB said Tuesday.
Wood returned after a nine-month absence following knee surgery for the first Test in Perth, managing eight overs before suffering tightness in his left hamstring, though scans later ruled out damage, and he was passed fit to play and had match figures of 0-44 in 11 overs.
The 35-year-old pacer was later sent to a specialist after reporting pain in his knee and was ruled out of the second Test in Brisbane.
England have called up Matthew Fisher to the squad. The seamer, who has been in Australia with the Lions, will link up with the group this week.
“England and Durham seamer Mark Wood has been ruled out of the remainder of the Ashes tour of Australia, following a recurrence of the left-knee injury he sustained during the first Test in Perth earlier this month.
“Wood will return home later this week and work closely with the ECB medical team on his rehabilitation and recovery,” ECB said in a statement.
On the other hand, injured Josh Hazlewood ruled out of Ashes, and Pat Cummins set for comeback
Australia pacer Josh Hazlewood will miss the rest of the series after suffering an injury setback, while Pat Cummins appears certain to captain Australia in the third Test in Adelaide.
Coach Andrew McDonald confirmed Tuesday that Hazlewood, who sustained a hamstring strain while bowling in the Sheffield Shield last month and then suffered a setback when he hurt his Achilles last week, would not feature against England this summer.
Hazlewood will instead focus on recovering in time for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup that commences February 7.
“Really flat for him. A couple of setbacks that we didn’t see coming. We thought he’d play a huge part in the series. But really feel for him that he won’t get that opportunity,” McDonald told reporters Tuesday.
Cummins, who was close to returning on overs restrictions in Brisbane after his recovery from a lower-back injury, progressed quicker than expected and is almost certain to feature in the third Test.
“There won’t be any match opportunities for Pat (before Adelaide), and this is something we’ve done with Pat before long-ish layoffs, where we’ve put some time and effort into rebuilding his body,” said McDonald.
Meanwhile, veteran spinner Nathan Lyon has been tipped to be back for the final three Tests too after being overlooked for the pink-ball match at the Gabba.
Two of Boland, Michael Neser and Brendon Doggett are now likely to miss in Adelaide, giving Australia at least some fresh pace reinforcements for the final two Tests.
“Now obviously we’ve got a big inclusion coming in, and I think that’ll be announced tomorrow officially that Pat will be back in the squad, so that obviously creates a different balance to our attack,” said McDonald.
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