England fast bowler Mark Wood has been ruled out of their upcoming Test series in Sri Lanka after sustaining a left side strain at the back end of England’s tour of South Africa.

After undergoing several scans to ascertain the severity of the injury, it was confirmed that Wood would miss the two-Test series in Sri Lanka.

Lancashire quick Saqib Mahmood, who has played ODI and T20I cricket for England this winter, has been called up to the Test squad as Wood’s replacement.

[caption id=”attachment_138657″ align=”alignnone” width=”800″]Mark Wood Mark Wood was the Player of the Match in England’s most recent Test match, in Johannesburg against South Africa[/caption]

Wood played in the last two Tests of England’s series in South Africa as well as all three of the T20Is between the two sides. Wood’s record for England since the start of 2019 is exceptional. Across all three international formats, Wood has taken 52 wickets at an average of just 21.51, winning the Player of the Match award in two of the three Tests he played in that time period, too.

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Mahmood, who has not yet played a Test, was included in England’s touring party for the Test series in New Zealand towards the end of 2019.

Full squad: Joe Root (c), Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Joe Denly, Ben Foakes, Keaton Jennings, Jack Leach, Saqib Mahmood, Matt Parkinson, Ollie Pope, Dom Sibley, Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes

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