England fast bowler Mark Wood has been ruled out of the rest of the year(2024) owing to a bone-stress injury to his right elbow.
According to an England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) release, he had noticed increasing stiffness and discomfort in his elbow during the Test series against the West Indies earlier in the summer.
He also featured in the first Test of the Sri Lanka tour of England 2024 in which he suffered a right thigh injury. The ECB stated that Wood is recovering well from the thigh injury which had initially ruled him out of the rest of the summer.
“Medical scans have confirmed that Wood has a bone stress injury of the right elbow injury. He had noticed increasing stiffness and discomfort in his elbow during the Test series against the West Indies earlier in the summer.
Wood will continue to work closely with the ECB medical team on his management and rehabilitation”, the report added.
As a result, he will miss England’s upcoming winter Test tours of Pakistan in October and New Zealand in December. He aims to return to full fitness by early 2025, in time for England’s white-ball tour of India and the ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan, scheduled to begin in February 2025.
In an Instagram post, Wood revealed that he had gone for what he thought was a routine elbow scan when the extent of the injury came to light.
“During what I thought was routine check on a previously troublesome elbow, I was shocked to learn I’ve got some bone stress in my right elbow.
After the minor groin injury at Emirates Old Trafford, me and the medical team felt it was a good time to get my elbow looked at as it was a bit irritated. I’d put that down to the normal niggles every fast bowler gets and which I was playing through”
“I’m especially surprised because I’ve been playing Test cricket and kept my speeds up. I work incredibly hard on my fitness, putting in extra work with coaches and physios making this even more disappointing. However, I guess this is, ‘part of being a fast bowler’, like Stokesy says”, Wood said in his post.
Wood said he is confident of being back in action early next year. “I will miss the rest of the year needing time to rest and build up, fully expecting to be back and firing in early 2025. I have been down this path before and will put in all the hard yards behind the scenes. I am very proud to represent my country and there is no better feeling.”
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