England may face a big blow before the second Ashes Test, as fast bowler Mark Wood may be out of the Brisbane match. The Three Lions aim to handle the fast bowler carefully in the remaining Ashes matches. Wood bowled with all the fast bowlers in the first Test in Perth, his first competitive match in almost nine months after knee surgery in March. It is noteworthy that even before the Perth Test, there were clouds of injury looming over Wood, when he was sent for a hamstring scan. Although scans came back clean, the 35-year-old Wood is now struggling with a problem with his left knee.
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The second Test of the Ashes series, which will be played with the pink ball, will be played at the Gabba in Brisbane from Thursday. England’s crushing defeat in Perth was so swift that the match ended in just two days, with Wood bowling only 11 overs and taking 0 for 44. Only three of these overs came in the second innings, where Australia achieved the target of 205 runs in just 28.2 overs, thanks to a explosive century from Travis Head.
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Wood’s absence from England’s opening training session at Allan Border Field on Saturday ahead of the pink-ball Test is an indication that he is being rested as the visitors look to bounce back from the 1-0 defeat. If all goes well, he is expected to be available again for the third Test starting in Adelaide from December 17. Notably, Wood was England’s best bowler on the 2021-22 tour (17 wickets at an average of 26.64), and he took nine wickets in the final Test in Hobart – England’s last pink-ball match in Australia. After he is rested, Josh Tung is likely to replace him.