The sledgehammer blow that Mark Wood will likely miss all five Tests against India this summer has compounded concerns around England’s fast-bowling stocks ahead of a defining year.
Wood will undergo his eighth surgery to correct the ligament damage he sustained while bowling in England’s Champions Trophy defeat to Afghanistan and will be out of action until the middle of the summer. That injury came at the end of a punishing tour, which saw the squad battling multiple injuries and, at one point, saw coaches Paul Collingwood and Marcus Trescothick listed as injury replacements. Nevertheless, the Wood injury feels particularly poignant.
For one, the circumstances surrounding it raise questions over England’s decision making. Wood looked in significant discomfort with his heavily strapped left knee during the powerplay of the match against Afghanistan, requiring treatment to complete his fourth over before leaving the field for a period. At that point, red flags should have been waving. The most high-profile 12 months of English cricket since 2019 had just started, with Wood integral to their plans. Coming off the back of an injury which kept him out of the Test winter and clearly carrying another during the Champions Trophy, allowing Wood to bowl when he came back on the field at the time felt like a huge risk.
Mark Wood experienced discomfort in his left knee ligament during the Champions Trophy and will miss four months of cricket.
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) March 13, 2025
He is targeting a return by the end of July. pic.twitter.com/q9ozIfX3BD
In some ways, it’s a risk England forced themselves to take. The balance of their side left no room for injury in their bowling attack, with fifth bowler duties split between Liam Livingstone and Joe Root. Losing to Afghanistan in their second consecutive 50-over tournament and crashing out of the competition as a result would be disastrous and at the point Wood came back on to bowl, the game was still winnable. However, three weeks later, the decision not to immediately pull Wood from the fixture and deal with the consequences of a badly balanced team and sub-par performance looks almost negligent, as England’s fastest bowler once again goes under the knife.
While England’s focus on ‘Australia-specialist’ bowlers over the last year has been about unearthing new talent, it’s also been about getting their two premiers back to their best for a winter down under. If Wood’s setback was somewhat within their control, the deviation from their plan with Jofra Archer wasn’t.
A year ago, Rob Key laid out England’s plan to get Archer back into the Test set-up for the first time since 2021 and earmarked this summer for his return. Since then, Archer has demonstrated sustained fitness, playing all eight of England’s matches at last year’s T20 World Cup and playing all of their 50-over games in the Champions Trophy. But, an unexpected IPL ultimatum has proved to be a stumbling block.
Despite hoping to keep him out of the competition – during which he has picked up injuries in the past – the ECB were forced to relent due to the new auction rules put in place to stop overseas players dipping in and out of the competition as suits them. When Archer was faced with the consequence of missing the competition for two further editions if he didn’t enter the auction this time, the IPL’s financial rewards understandably won.
After initially not appearing on the list for the player auction, Jofra Archer has been signed for approximately £1.18m! 🤝
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) November 24, 2024
What does his IPL 2025 deal mean for his Ashes prospects?
READ: https://t.co/qnjmqblffT pic.twitter.com/2FbCKG5zLz
But it does mean Archer will not be able to build up his workload in the County Championship ahead of the India series. Key admitted having to allow Archer to enter the IPL has left his return to Tests “a couple of months behind”. The IPL will finish on May 25, with no County Championship fixtures available to Archer between then and the start of the India Tests. One round overlaps with the first Test, another with the second, and then there’s just one more before the final Test begins. The best case scenario is for Archer to play in one or two Tests of the India series after playing a couple of Championship fixtures for Sussex. But that’s a punishing schedule which would follow the gruelling travel and playing demands in India.
With a race against time to get both their premier quicks game-time before the Ashes, the reserves behind them are also starting to look on the thin side. Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse dove-tailed their breakouts from summer to winter, but both endured difficult white-ball series in India. Carse’s involvement was curtailed due to an injured toe which also ruled him out of the IPL, while being demolished three times over by India is the biggest setback of Atkinson's international career thus far.
Brendon McCullum taking control of the white-ball set-up was the start of making England an all-format side in the wake of an era where they’ve flitted in priorities between the red and white-ball formats. Part of that in the short-term was having more Test players available to feature across formats, making the best players available beyond marquee series. That comes at a price of greater risk to the most vulnerable and valuable players, a risk that England are feeling more acutely now. It’s worth remembering that, for years, England had James Anderson and Stuart Broad as their reliable Test bankers, sitting out the odd series with sporadic but not prolonged bouts of injury. With all of their premier quicks now playing across formats, that risk factor has gone up.
The type of bowlers England have earmarked as integral to success over the next year is also at play. Wanting bowlers with ball speed to hit the deck hard like the core quartet they’ve landed on at the minute, usually brings a heightened risk of injury.
There are other options. Olly Stone made his Test return after three years over the summer but didn’t find his way into the playing XI in either Pakistan or New Zealand. Matt Potts continued to drop in and out of Test XIs without firming up his case for a frontline spot, while there’s also Josh Hull, the 20-year-old picked for one Test against Sri Lanka, and Josh Tongue, who appeared for his first competitive outing since the 2023 Ashes earlier this year. Beyond that, they could opt to send Chris Woakes to try and rectify his record Down Under, or plump for previously tried and discarded players like Sam Curran or Ollie Robinson, or take more fitness risks with Saqib Mahmood or Jamie Overton. There are also outside options to consider, players that don’t necessarily fit the mould they’ve built their Australia-focussed attack on like Sam Cook or Craig Overton, as well as the promise of Dan Worrall’s eligibility.
It’s not panic stations yet, but the road to Australia 2025/26 looks more windy than it has done previously. There’s a path where Wood’s surgery goes to plan, Archer makes it through the IPL unscathed and the others ratchet up performance with the promise of 10 Tests between them and the most successful Test spree England have had in a decade. But the other could see the plan England have backed to win them back the Ashes unravel.
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