Mark Wood ruled out for four months after knee surgery

The 35-year old underwent surgery on Wednesday morning in London after scans confirmed medial ligament damage, which came to the fore during England’s Champions Trophy group stage defeat to Afghanistan in Lahore at the end of last month.

Wood was forced to leave the field after pulling up midway through his fourth over after experiencing “locking” in his knee. He returned 38 minutes later but could only bowl four of his remaining six before leaving the field for good. The Durham quick’s left knee was heavily strapped throughout the tournament, as it had been since the start of 2024.

The timeframe for Wood’s recovery means it is highly unlikely he features in the five-match series against India, which begins at Headingley on June 20. A seamless rehabilitation could see him available for the final Test at the Kia Oval (starting July 31), with Durham’s County Championship fixture against Somerset (July 22) a potential return to competitive action. That round begins a day before the fourth Test at Emirates Old Trafford.

At this juncture, the ECB believe Wood will be fully fit to tour Australia this winter. Speaking at Lord’s last week, men’s managing director Rob Key stated England will “work back from the Ashes” regarding decisions around the fast bowler’s fitness.

“I’m gutted to be out for so long after representing England across all formats since the start of last year,” said Wood in a statement released on Thursday. “But I’ve got every confidence that I’ll be back firing on all cylinders now that I’ve been able to sort my knee out.

“I want to thank the surgeon, the doctors, staff, my England teammates and coaches for their support – and, of course, our fans. I can’t wait to get back and contribute to what is going to be a huge 2025 for us as a team.”

This latest setback joins a litany of previous injuries suffered by Wood since debuting for England in 2015. It is the eighth operation of his career, and his second in the last eight months alone, after an elbow stress fracture discovered last August kept him out of action for the rest of 2024.

Wood remains the standout of those quicks, and his recent record against Australia underlines how vital he is to Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes in their search to reclaim the urn for the first time since 2015.

Wood was the sole bright spot during England last Ashes tour Down Under in 2021-22, with 17 wickets at 26.64 in a 4-0 loss, and took 14 at 20.21 in the drawn 2023 series having arrived with Australia 2-0 up. It was also against Australia in the recent Champions Trophy that Wood bowled England’s quickest ever ODI opening spell.

McCullum leant on Wood after assuming control of the white-ball teams at the start of year, picking him for nine of his first 10 matches in charge before injury struck.

Though Wood’s central contract, which expires in October 2026, includes limited-overs cricket and has so far featured three tournaments (including the 2023 ODI World Cup and 2024 T20 World Cup), it seems unlikely he will feature in white-ball cricket for the remainder of this year.