England Cricket Team’s frontline pacer Mark Wood has been ruled out of the third test at Leeds due to a shoulder injury. Wood sustained the injury during the game at Lords. While wood was fielding on the boundary, he landed shoulder first onto the advertising board in an attempt to stop the ball. Although Wood continued to bowl for the rest of the match, he has been considered unfit for selection in the third game. Here’s a look at how the events panned out: –
About the injury: –
Mark Wood was fielding on the boundary line on Day 4. While attempting to stop the ball from moving to the boundary, Wood dived. The dive ended up in Wood faceplanting himself in the advertisement hoardings. During this entire scenario, Wood sustained the injury. Maximum damage has been done to Wood’s right shoulder. Due to this, he was only able to bowl 4 overs on the 5th day of the test match. Although the right-arm pacer was clocking 93 mph on the last day, his fitness is questionable. On the eve of the 3rd test match, an official statement was released by the ECB that Wood has been ruled out.
England’s injury woes continue: –
Wood’s injury just adds assault to injury to a previously struggling English Team. The team is missing the services of super quick Jofra Archer due to an elbow injury. Next up in the line is Olly Stone. Olly Stone is not in the squad because of a stress fracture in his back. And most recently Stuart Broad too was ruled out of the England Series. Ben Stokes, the dominant all-rounder, also pulled out due to mental health issues. Wood’s injury just adds up to this very long list. Before the second test, even Jimmy Anderson’s fitness was questionable but the veteran put up a great effort.
Other available options for England: –
England has always been home to elite pacers. So, if one pacer goes, the other one is ready to fill in the shoes. So, the absence of Wood in this case opens the doors for Saqib Mahmood. Saqib has previously featured in the series against Pakistan in which he ran through the Pakistani lineup. With the kind of pedigree that Saqib possesses, he too is equally lethal!
Senior Players criticizing “Intent” of players: –
When Mark Wood made the dive, several senior players were awestruck! The question they put forward was whether “Intent” is more important than “Injury”. Considering the current team situation, Wood’s dive was atrocious, this is what several seniors quoted.
