Mark Wood: The injured England footballer is ‘improving’ but will not push through recovery

Wood has been plagued by injuries during his career – including several knee and elbow operations – which have robbed England of spells of their best bowlers.

He spent seven months rehabilitating his knee so he could be fit for the Ashes team and expressed his regret at not being able to play some matches for his county before heading to Australia for the series.

He said: “I tried to come back at some points, but my knee was not quite ready.”

He added: “It’s easy in hindsight. Even if my score was 80%, the match would have at least given us an indication of where I was.”

It was thought he was set to make a home summer return, but he ultimately did not take the field until England’s only Ashes warm-up match against the Lions at Lilac Hill in November.

He bowled eight overs but was only allowed to play in the first Test after his hamstring was examined.

For now, though, despite his focus on his recovery, Wood said he was thinking about life after cricket: “I’m starting to think about other things, doing podcasts, doing my coaching badges.

“I’m now starting to try to think for the first time about what I should do if things don’t go well.”

Wood – considered one of the fastest bowlers to play for England – has taken 119 wickets in 38 Tests since making his debut in 2015.

He was part of the 2015 Ashes-winning side, lifted the 2019 World Cup over fifty and won the T20 World Cup in 2022.