England seamer Mark Wood has revealed that he will undergo further surgery in the hope of being fit for this autumn’s T20 World Cup.
Wood will sit out the remainder of the summer after suffering a setback from an elbow injury that originally flared up on England’s tour of the Caribbean in March.
He had surgery initially and had been building up to a return, including taking five wickets in club cricket for Ashington this weekend. But he has pulled up poorly and will go under the knife again.
“The road to recovery isn't going well,” he said on Test Match Special. “I am off again, for probably more surgery, on Sunday.
“I’m off again for probably more surgery on Saturday. Played a club game to see what it was like tested it out, so unfortunately it’s not pulled up well. To be ready for the World Cup, I’m going to have to get that done. It is the same elbow, there is pain in the same spot.
“I’ve been bowling for the last two or three weeks in the nets, top speed also off my full run-up. But it just seems to keep deteriorating. When I played that club game it was an indication in a match of how does it actually feel.
“The next day… I can straighten my left arm fully, but my right arm is still sort of bent a little bit. Unfortunately it’s blocked at the back. There must be something going on there I must need fixed.
“It’s not so much at the time. It’s more the day after. If I had to back it up or if I was in the tournament, for example, it would knock me back four or five games, or days.”
Durham’s Wood would be a key member of England’s attack in the World Cup in Australia, where he bowled well in last winter’s Ashes.
“That’s why it’s sort of crunch week this week,” he said. “That’s why I’ve been building it up so much. But this week it needed a decision, so that’s why I played the club cricket. Unfortunately it hasn’t been good. The frustration for me is I’ve done everything everyone has asked. It’s just not giving me a break.
“The focus has always been the Twenty20 World Cup. I was desperate to just play any game, so it was nice to play for Ashington, my home club, and just play a match because I feel I’ve worked so hard over the last three months to get it right. I’m a bit sad and frustrated now, but what can I do? I’ve given it as good a shot as I could.”
