Mark Wood exits with hamstring tightness as England face a chilling ashes injury scare

England’s Ashes preparations suffered a jolt on Thursday when fast bowler Mark Wood left the field with tightness in his left hamstring during the tour match against England Lions at Lilac Hill. The setback arrived only hours into his long awaited return to action and cast an immediate shadow over England’s hopes of unleashing their quickest bowler in the first Test later this month.

Wood, now thirty five, had not played any form of cricket since suffering a knee injury in February. His appearance in Perth marked his first outing in nine months and his first spell in whites in more than a year. England had planned a cautious workload, giving him two spells of four overs, but the concern flared midway through the second session when he stopped and left the field. He walked off in seemingly good spirits and even shared a joke with Jordan Cox, whom he had just caught on the boundary, yet the brief smile did little to soften the wider fear rippling around the ground.

The England medical team confirmed he will undergo a precautionary scan on Friday and the hope remains that he can bowl again on Saturday, the final day of the match. That sense of hope feels fragile given his long list of injuries. Wood has not played a Test since August 2024 when an elbow injury ended his year. He returned to white ball cricket at the start of this year only to tear knee ligaments at the Champions Trophy, an injury that required surgery. The hamstring issue has now appeared in the same leg that endured that major operation.

Harry Brook, serving as vice captain in the warm up, acknowledged the worry but insisted fast bowlers live with such risks every day. He described the issue as part of the reality of being a bowler who pushes regularly towards ninety miles per hour.

Ben Stokes provided the brightest point of England’s day. Making his own return from a shoulder injury suffered in July, the captain tore through the Lions line up with six for fifty two. He struck in each of his three spells and used the slow pitch to his advantage with movement off the seam and fierce accuracy. The Lions were bowled out for three hundred and eighty two with half centuries from Ben McKinney, Cox, the seventeen year old Thomas Rew and Ashes hopeful Matthew Potts. Potts fell to the final ball of the day when a Jofra Archer bouncer caught him off guard and left England beginning their reply on Friday morning.

Wood’s presence in the starting eleven had offered a glimpse of England’s thinking for the first Test at Optus Stadium, which starts on 21 November. The pitch in Perth usually favours pace and seam rather than spin, an assessment reflected in the selection of Shoaib Bashir for the Lions rather than the main side. A five man pace attack built around Wood’s speed remains England’s preferred plan if he proves fit enough to play.

Brydon Carse added another note of concern when he missed the first day of the match through illness, though he is expected to join the game in the next few days. England entered the tour needing their fast bowlers in peak condition and now find themselves monitoring two before the first Test has even begun.

The day as a whole produced mixed emotions. England showed hunger and energy in the field while Stokes demonstrated that he remains a commanding force with the ball. Yet the sight of Wood leaving the field raked up memories of previous tours when injury robbed England of their quickest weapon at crucial moments. As Brook summed it up, the team enjoyed the chance to reunite on the field, but the uncertainty surrounding their fastest bowler now hangs heavily over their Ashes build up.