Star England quick sent for scans in major scare for tourists

England’s Ashes campaign could hinge on a scan involving one of its most influential players, with Mark Wood reporting hamstring tightness on Thursday.

The star pace bowler left the field during England’s warm-up game against the England Lions in Perth.

The 35-year-old, who has played 11 Tests against Australia and is arguably England’s most dangerous bowler, took 0-29 from eight overs before leaving the field at Lilac Hill in Perth.

Wood has been recovering from a knee injury and has not played an international match since February.

“The plan for Mark Wood was for him to bowl eight overs today,” the England Cricket Board said in a statement released on Thursday evening.

“He has some stiffness in his left hamstring, which has kept him off the field for some time during the second session of the first day and will undergo a precautionary scan tomorrow [Friday].

“He is expected to bowl again in two days’ time. It is unlikely he will return to the field today.”

England vice-captain Harry Brook was downbeat when asked about Wood’s situation after play.

“That’s not ideal, but that’s part of being an extremely fast bowler,” Brook said of Wood’s injury scare. “We’ll see what happens tomorrow.”

News of Wood’s hamstring issue came a day after Australian Test quick Josh Hazlewood was sent for scans on a hamstring after reporting tightness during NSW’s Sheffield Shield match against Victoria at the SCG. Cricket Australia said Hazlewood has been cleared of major damage and will train in Perth as expected.

The news was not as good for squad member Sean Abbott, who suffered a moderate grade hamstring injury in the same match and was ruled out of the first Test.

Meanwhile, Cameron Green has solidified his spot in Australia’s XI for the Ashes opener after plundering an authoritative 94 for Western Australia off the back of his encouraging return to bowling.

The all-rounder fell six runs short of triple figures in Perth on Thursday against Queensland after being trapped in front by Bulls seamer Michael Neser, who is the frontrunner to replace Abbott in the Australian squad.

After an indifferent start to his Sheffield Shield season, producing scores of 19, 24, 0 and 41, Green’s latest contribution will settle selectors’ nerves ahead of next Friday’s first Test against England at Optus Stadium.

It also came just days after former Test stars Allan Border and Ian Healy publicly questioned whether Green should be in Australia’s XI if he is not bowling regularly.

Their comments came off the back of Green’s setback with a minor side issue, but his smooth, pain-free return with the ball this week has helped quash those concerns. He was clubbed for 13 runs in his first over on Thursday but sent down a seven-over spell of 0-30 to clock 15 overs for the match, which is what selectors wanted to see.

Green looked every bit the batsman Australia hope he can be this summer, crunching eight fours and a six.

Should Australia hand a debut to Jake Weatherald in Perth, Marnus Labuschagne will shift back to No.3, leaving Green to resume at No.6.

Green was Australia’s first drop on this year’s tour of the West Indies and finished third on the overall runs tally with 184 at 30.66.

Green’s likely inclusion means Beau Webster is likely to miss out. The Tasmanian all-rounder has enjoyed a strong 12 months but hasn’t passed 13 in his four Shield innings this season.

The other complicating factor is that Weatherald is not in peak form heading into the first Test. His recent scores of 0, 12, 23 and 30 for Tasmania might be a cause for concern among selectors but his audacious approach is likely to see him rewarded with a Baggy Green.

Former Australian captain Tim Paine said this week he would pick Green over Webster.

“I think right now you’re still going with Cameron Green,” Paine told SEN Radio. “[Webster] has come from probably the third or fourth all-rounder in Australia to putting pressure on Cam Green for his spot, so that’s an amazing amount of work that he’s done in 18 months to close that gap and to have that conversation now.

“If Cameron Green doesn’t perform, there’s a guy ready to step in to that place.”

On Thursday, Test squad member Josh Inglis – Alex Carey’s understudy as wicketkeeper – was dismissed for four by Gurinder Sandhu, while Hilton Cartwright made a composed 37 before falling to Neser. The Queensland veteran finished with 2-47 from 20.3 overs, continuing a superb start to his Shield campaign.

The 35-year-old now has 13 wickets from three matches and looms as the next man in after Abbott was ruled out.

Neser, who debuted against England in the 2021-22 Adelaide day-nighter before playing his second Test the following summer against the West Indies at the same venue, has seven wickets at 16.71 at international level.

Head selector George Bailey has spoken glowingly of Neser’s readiness.

“That’s the bowling conversation of complementary skillsets for what we think we may need, should there be any moving parts for Perth,” Bailey told reporters. “Every venue we go to and as the series rolls on, you’ll get results and injuries or whatever will confront you and we’ll adjust as we see fit.

“I certainly wouldn’t discount Nes. He’s quality as we know.”