by Mark Wood will miss England’s Tests in Pakistan and New Zealand after tests revealed a “bone injury to his right elbow”. Wood missed the last two games of the summer with a thigh injury sustained in the series opener against Sri Lanka, but he had already been dealing with stiffness and discomfort in his arm, which he noticed during July’s three-match series against the West Indies.
The 34-year-old has previously suffered injuries to the same elbow, requiring surgery in 2022. He will hope surgery will not be necessary this time around and that he will be fit again in time for the white-ball tour of India in January and February, which will be their first with Brendon McCullum leading the limited-overs team, and the Champions Trophy, currently scheduled for Pakistan, which follows it.
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England’s decimated red-ball bowling squad will be able to draw on the knowledge of Jimmy Anderson during their winter tours after the 42-year-old, who has taken on a mentoring role since retiring in July, revealed he would travel with the team to Pakistan and New Zealand.
Meanwhile, Ben Duckett hailed Ollie Pope’s return to form after the England stand-in captain, who had scored just 30 runs in his first four innings of the series, produced an unbeaten century on the first day of the final Test against Sri Lanka at the Oval. Pope reached 103 from 103 balls before bad light intervened for the second time in the day to bring the game to a premature end with England on 221 for three.
“There’s a lot of noise around Popey and to ignore it and score an incredible 100 runs was a great thing,” Duckett said. “To go two games without a big run is not a long time. Against the new ball in England, I know how tricky it can be and for him to go out and express himself on a pitch he loves is a credit to him. He’s taken over as Test captain and it’s had no impact on him.”
Duckett appeared to be on course to reach a similar total until, after scoring 86 off 79 balls, he was run out attempting a scoop. The 29-year-old scored three centuries in 48 innings but was run out six times after passing 75 and without reaching three figures.
“No one is more disappointed than me. I have always been proud of scoring hundreds but if I had started playing differently to get to a hundred I would have been even more disappointed in myself,” he said. “It is a gamble I have been considering playing in Test cricket for a long time and it seemed like the right option. It will not be the last time I play this gamble.”
Sri Lanka bowling coach Aaqib Javed said his team had been guilty of getting overexcited after winning the toss in seemingly ideal bowling conditions. “There were a lot of things going on in their minds: ‘Oh, this is the best day for swing bowling and the best chance to take wickets’. Sometimes you try to calm them down but the excitement level is too high,” he said. “I think we didn’t bowl well today. There’s a lot left in this game so we have to show our character tomorrow morning. The bowlers will rest and come up with something better than this.”
