Mark Wood Ruled Out of Adelaide Test Due to Knee Trouble

Mark Wood has ruled himself out of the Adelaide Test after admitting his knee injury has not healed well enough for him to play.

England fast bowler Mark Wood has ruled himself out of the third Ashes Test in Adelaide, admitting he will not recover in time for the match beginning on December 17. Wood recently returned to Test cricket in Perth after a 15-month break following left-knee surgery. However, the discomfort in the same knee forced him to miss the second Test in Brisbane. Will Jacks replaced him there, while Wood continued to wear a knee brace throughout the tour.

Wood said that his next realistic chance of playing is the Melbourne or Sydney Tests, as he currently cannot move freely and is relying on pain medication during recovery.

“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. Throughout my career, I’ve tried to show resilience and keep coming back and keep trying to push it where I can bowl faster and faster, but I’m getting older now,” Wood said to Channel 7.

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“I don’t know if my body’s not coping with it as well [as it used to] but I’ll keep trying. That’s something I pride myself on, to keep running in for the team and be a good team man. I’m hoping I can get this right and can charge in again,” he added.

Mark Wood managed only eight overs in England’s warm-up match due to hamstring trouble but was cleared to play in Perth, where he bowled 11 wicketless overs. That workload, however, caused more discomfort. Wood has received injections and is resting, with plans to start running before returning to bowling.

“I’m trying to just get through day-to-day at the minute. Later in the series is what I’m aiming for, but I can’t do that much at the minute. I’ve had a couple of injections, resting up, and slowly but surely, running [will] start soon, then back into bowling,” the pacer concluded.