England bowler Mark Wood targets injury comeback for Durham in Ashes boost

Wood’s importance to England bid to win the Ashes for the first time since 2015 cannot be overstated.

They want a group of bowlers capable of generating high pace in Australia and Wood, who has had a number of injury issues throughout his career, is the quickest of their options, which also include Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue, Brydon Carse and Gus Atkinson.

Should Chris Woakes fail to recover from his shoulder injury or be omitted, Wood may also be the only frontline bowler in England’s squad who has played a Test in Australia. He took 17 wickets across four Tests on the 2021-22 tour, including nine in the fifth Test in Hobart.

Durham have three County Championship matches left this season – against Essex from 8 September, at home to Worcestershire on 15 September and away to Yorkshire on 24 September.

“I’ll try and play one or two of those,” Wood said.

“I’ve been well looked after and very cautious.

“I value it as they’ve got this end game where they want me to get to Australia.

“But I said to [England coach Brendon McCullum] Baz McCullum I can’t just bowl to a net for four months, I’ll go insane.

“There’s a bowling camp in Loughborough in a tent – getting acclimatised there ready for Perth – then I’ll go over to Perth early with a couple of bowlers.

“We’ll arrive about a week early to prepare and get acclimatised.”

The Ashes begins in Perth on 21 November.