Mark Wood is not expecting to play a major role in this summer's Ashes, admitting he "might not play any" if England do not lose any more seamers to injury ahead of the series.
Captain Ben Stokes has already stated he wants eight to choose from when his England side take on rivals Australia and Wood will certainly come into contention. Veteran duo James Anderson and Stuart Broad will lead the attack, but are highly unlikely to feature in every Test given they are now 40 and 36 respectively and all five Tests have been squeezed into a 46-day period.
Ollie Robinson has been outstanding since returning to the side last summer a much fitter bowler, while the likes of Jofra Archer, Olly Stone and Saqib Mahmood could all have a role to play after recovering from stress fractures of the back and making their England returns in white-ball cricket.
The likes of Matt Potts and Chris Woakes are also in contention, with Potts impressing last summer as he picked up 20 wickets in his first five Tests and Woakes now fully fit having last played Test cricket almost a full year ago.
And Wood believes the dearth of options at Stokes' disposal means he will not play much at all this summer, despite ending the 2021-22 Ashes series as England's leading wicket taker.
"I will definitely not play all five," Wood admitted while speaking to reporters during England's ongoing white-ball tour of Bangladesh. "I was delighted to play four out of five in Australia.
"I was knackered, wrecked, exhausted [but] that was a big tick in my box to say that in a big series, I can do it, if Stokesy or Baz [McCullum] want me to play. More than likely, with the bowling stock we have, especially at home, I probably won't even play four.
"They might even want me for one or two, if they need a pace element. He [Stokes] might want to mix it up to keep people fresh, but if people are playing well, I might not play any.
"I very much doubt, from the way they have managed me, [that I will play] four. If they want three or four, I will put my hand up."
