England fast bowler Mark Wood is hopeful for a comeback with the Three Lions in the summer. Wood is among the fastest pacers to ever represent the England National Cricket Team. Despite his talents and well-versed skill sets, his professional cricket career has been cut short significantly.
He is hoping to make a comeback for the national cricket side again later in the summer. If things go according to his plans, he will be back in action after enduring the knee injury.
Mark Wood injured his knee during the first match of The Ashes
Mark Wood picked up the knee injury during the previous Ashes series. In the first of the five-match Test series against Australia in Perth, the pacer injured his knee after delivering only 11 overs and was ruled out of the entire series.
Ahead of The Ashes, he remained out of any kind of competitive matches for about 15 months because of an elbow issue. Because of repeated setbacks, the 36-year-old has so far featured in only 38 Tests for the England cricket team.
England pacer determined to make a fresh comeback for the national team
Wood recently said that he could have returned even further, but he does not want to rush, as it could worsen his knee. He has been going through a slow recovery process to make a strong comeback in the Whites. Last month, Wood revealed that he was afraid of thinking about his life after his cricket career if the ongoing rehabilitation process did not go well.
“I need to take it slow. Realistically, I’ve got maybe one more chance at doing this right. If I rush it back, then it’s not good; that could be it. I’m still trying to get back to bowling, hopefully later on in the summer,” Mark Wood told the BBC in a recent interview.
“You’ve got to keep your eye on the prize, which is ultimately for me, trying to get to playing for England. That’s my focus. It’s mega frustrating. It’s been a long time, over a year, since I had the initial surgery. To build it back up for seven months to play one game, and then be out again, takes its toll. With my age I’m at, I don’t want to miss games. You want to be involved. I was bowling quickly and well before this injury started, and I haven’t been able to get back to that level,” he added further.
Time is also running against Mark Wood
Currently, as he is 36, there are very thin chances to make a strong comeback on a long-term basis for the right-arm fast. Before making any further delay, his goal is now to make a bounce back in a significant manner. For a cricketer who has a lot of potential and talents, and experiences at the highest level of the game, it is massively frustrating for Mark Wood to spend month after month spending time far from the international matches.
His existing contract with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) will be valid until the autumn. By the time, will he be able to make progress towards his goal? The upcoming few weeks are going to be very crucial for Wood.