England quick bowler Mark Wooden will see a knee specialist in London on Friday to find out a comeback path following his heartbreaking Ashes-ending harm.
Wooden, who turned 36 on Sunday, hobbled out of the 4-1 defeat to Australia after sending down simply 11 overs having spent seven months of rehabilitation to line up for the primary Check in Perth.
The Durham quick bowler produced a devastatingly quick first spell of the collection, by no means dropping beneath 92 miles per hour in his opening over and exhibiting precisely why England’s selectors needed their most profitable attacking weapon of the 2021-22 Ashes again on the sphere.
Nevertheless, Wooden didn’t generate the identical stage of hostility within the second innings and later had fluid drained from his knee after his long-standing concern resurfaced.
England have been eager on the world’s quickest bowler that includes within the second Check in Brisbane however have been guided on choice by their medical crew and it grew to become clear forward of the third match in Adelaide that he would play no additional half.
Wooden often sported a knee brace down underneath, and though it was reckoned to be discomfort in his hamstring that triggered panic in the course of the warm-up week in Lilac Hill, scans got here again all clear, suggesting it could have been an underlying concern with the left knee operated on final March.
Mark Wooden within the first Ashes Check at Perth – his physique would solely permit him to bowl 11 overs
Wooden’s bowling places immense strain on his physique and his knee failed to carry up in Australia
Famend knee surgeons Andy Williams and Simon Ball, of the Fortius Clinic, have handled Wooden through the years and the most recent appointment within the capital will decide whether or not a participant who places such unbelievable pressure via his 5ft 10in body is ready to lengthen his England profession past the thirty eighth Check cap he gained on November 21.
A participant who terrorised Australia with a man-of-the-match seven wicket efficiency at Headingley in 2023 has defied a creaking physique for greater than a decade on the worldwide stage, however along with his central contract operating out in October and the primary of England’s six house Assessments in 2026, in opposition to New Zealand at Lord’s, beginning in lower than 5 months, time isn’t on his facet.
Wooden mentioned he was ‘gutted’ to be lacking the rest of the Ashes when confirming the information on social media final month, including: ‘After intensive surgical procedure and 7 lengthy laborious months of labor and rehab to get again into the Check area, my knee simply hasn’t held up. I got here right here with excessive expectations about making a huge impact.
‘I’m desperately disillusioned that regardless of but extra injections and intensive medical remedy it has grow to be clear that the flare up in my knee is worse than feared.’
One college of thought is that Wooden was not sturdy sufficient for the magnitude of an Ashes battle, as a consequence of a scarcity of first-class cricket within the build-up.
His earlier aggressive match was a Champions Trophy defeat to Afghanistan final February when he by some means managed to ship down eight overs, bowling via apparent ache after injuring his knee early on.
