Mark Wood’s road back from knee surgery looks set to include at least one County Championship match for Durham next month, a small but significant step in England’s Ashes build-up.
The 35-year-old quick has not played since February, when damage to the medial ligament in his left knee finally demanded an operation. Surgeons were happy, yet the original four-month recovery target soon drifted. Wood missed the entire India Test series – he had circled the Oval finale in July – and then sat out England’s September white-ball fixtures against South Africa and Ireland.
Durham, meanwhile, are in a scrap. Promoted only last summer, they sit ninth in Division One with three rounds left: Essex on 8 September, bottom-placed Worcestershire on 15 September and Yorkshire on 24 September. Wood will not be risked against Essex but, fitness permitting, should face Worcestershire at Chester-le-Street. A second game, against Yorkshire, depends on how the knee reacts to his first red-ball outing since Galle last August and first for Durham since May 2021.
“I’m hoping to play for Durham as there are a couple of games in September – so I’ll try and play one or two of those,” Wood told the Stick to Cricket podcast.
That willingness has been noted. England’s medical staff, mindful of his lengthy injury record and the extra strain generated by speeds north of 90mph, would happily wrap him in cotton wool until the flight to Perth. Yet Wood, restless after months of net sessions, wanted something more tangible.
“The injury is alright. It was fifty-fifty whether I was going to make the India Test but I was bowling at Lord’s and then, the next day, my knee swelled up again so I had it drained and since then it’s just been about taking things easy looking ahead to the winter.”
Even in a cautious set-up, his record buys him leeway. On the previous Ashes tour, a grim campaign for England overall, Wood topped the visitors’ averages with 17 wickets at 26.64. Two summers ago he was parachuted into the home Ashes at 2-0 down; three Tests later he had 14 wickets at 20.21 and the series was squared.
“I’ve been well looked after and very cautious, that’s the way that it’s been. I value it as they’ve (the ECB) got this end-game where they want me to get to Australia.”
The desire for match practice led to a frank chat with Brendon McCullum.
“But I said to Baz McCullum, I can’t just bowl to a net for four months, I’ll go insane. There’s a bowling camp in Loughborough in a tent – getting acclimatised there ready for Pe”
England accept the logic. A controlled four-day game offers rhythm, an honest test of the knee and a chance to fine-tune the short, hostile bursts that remain central to their plans. It also hands Durham a timely lift in what could be a fraught fortnight.
If all goes well, Wood will join an early-season training block at the ECB’s new Adelaide base before the first Test at Perth in late November. England believe his extra pace can still shift an Ashes contest; Wood simply wants the reassurance of wickets on the board – and a knee that behaves – before boarding the plane.
