England’s Ashes campaign suffers fresh blow as Mark Wood ruled out for series

England’s Ashes campaign has descended further into disarray, with fast bowler Mark Wood set to miss the remainder of the series and head home to the UK.

Just hours after Australia confirmed paceman Josh Hazlewood would take no part in the campaign, Wood became the latest casualty following a recurrence of the left knee injury he suffered during the first Test in Perth.

Wood took 0-44 from 11 overs during England’s eight-wicket defeat at Optus Stadium and said he was “gutted” to have been ruled out of the series. His absence will heap more pressure on teammate Jofra Archer to try and bowl the visitors back into the series.

“After extensive surgery and seven long, hard months of work and rehab to get back into the Test arena, my knee just hasn’t held up,” Wood wrote on Instagram to his 389,000 followers.

“None of us expected this. I came here with high expectations about making a big impact. I’m desperately disappointed that despite yet more injections and intensive medical treatment it has become clear that the flare-up in my knee is worse than feared.

“I’m really sorry that has left me unable to perform as expected, but it is not for want of trying.”

Surrey seamer Matthew Fisher has been added to the England squad, which arrived in Noosa on Tuesday for a pre-planned trip that will entail playing golf and relaxing at the beach.

Australia are set to tighten the screws on an England side already under immense pressure ahead of the third Test, with coach Andrew McDonald confirming injured skipper Pat Cummins will return and fast bowlers Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland are unlikely to be rested with the urn on the line.

One player who won’t be in Adelaide for Australia’s next assignment, which begins Wednesday week, is Hazlewood. The 34-year-old has been ruled out of the series after an Achilles issue, revealed by this masthead last week, set him back further during his recovery from a hamstring injury.

This will be the first home Test summer Hazlewood has missed since debuting in 2014. Given his recent injury history, it is not unreasonable to wonder whether Hazlewood will play another Test on Australian soil.

“It’s a totally separate injury, it’s somewhere lower in the calf to Achilles region,” McDonald said on Tuesday. “He will be out of the series and his preparation will then shift towards the [T20] World Cup, which is an incredibly important campaign for us. [We’re] really flat for him.

“[He had] a couple of setbacks we didn’t see coming. We thought he’d play a huge part in the series, but really feel for him that he won’t get that opportunity.”

England’s inability to win a Test against an Australian side missing Cummins, Hazlewood and effectively Nathan Lyon – who has bowled just two overs – is a sobering reality ahead of a must-win match in Adelaide.

McDonald said Cummins will return as captain, replacing Steve Smith, having completed a series of “match simulation” bowling spells at Allan Border Field while the Brisbane Test was playing out.

“Pat will be back in the squad, he will be available, and that creates a different balance to our attack,” McDonald said. “Barring anything else happening in the next week, we’ll be expecting Pat to be tossing the coin and putting the blazer on.

“There won’t be any match opportunities for Pat. This is something we’ve done with Pat before, off longish lay-offs, where we’ve put in some time into rebuilding his body. He’s simulated pretty much what a match will look like out there with multiple spells.

“We feel as though he’ll be as best prepared as he can be. He was well ahead of where we thought he would be at, and it created a real live conversation for Brisbane. The skill readiness, the loads, how he was pulling up … it was debated a lot, leading into that Test match. So with that in mind, seeing him further advanced, we feel he’ll be really well-placed for the challenges of Adelaide.”

With Cummins and Lyon expected to return, Brendan Doggett and Michael Neser loom as the men to miss out. Boland’s outstanding record in Melbourne – he averages 14.62 from three Tests at the MCG – sparked speculation he might be rested in Adelaide to ensure his fitness for Boxing Day, but the nine-day break between Tests has allowed Australia’s attack to freshen up, despite Starc carrying a minor niggle.

“Everyone’s pulled up well. Starcy’s had a little bit of a hindrance with his left side… but nothing to worry about,” McDonald said. “He’s had it before. Incredible workload from him with bat and ball. Everyone should be fit and available if selected in the next game.

“In the pre-planning … the gap between Tests one and two, and two and three, was something that we thought we could manage. It will be more than likely the best balanced and available attack for Adelaide. We wouldn’t think that someone would be needing a rest there. It’s probably more in Tests four and five.

Asked about Lyon’s omission in Brisbane, McDonald said the champion spinner had every right to be disappointed.

“We went down a different path,” McDonald said. “We just valued different things in the pink ball game, and unfortunately, Nathan had to squeeze and that’s nothing to do with his skill sets.

“That’s not a difficult conversation … you’re not ending someone’s career. We still value Nathan incredibly and he’ll have a big part to play in this series.”

Mitch Marsh, who this masthead revealed on Monday will retire from first-class cricket at the end of the season, will remain a player of interest for selectors this season – but not beyond that.

“He’ll be available for Test selection [this season], yes,” McDonald said of Marsh. “I don’t want to put words in Mitch’s mouth, but if he’s retired from first-class cricket he would potentially look at Test cricket retirement also at the end of the season.”

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