Mark Wood To Undergo Right Elbow Surgery, Uncertain About Fitness Before World Cup
Mark Wood To Undergo Right Elbow Surgery, Uncertain About Fitness Before World Cup
Mark Wood has revealed that he is about to undergo another operation on his troubled right elbow this week. He is looking forward to a place in the T20 World Cup in Australia starting in mid-October.
Wood has been out since March after suffering an injury in the first Test during the West Indies tour. It was originally hoped that 32-year-old Wood would be back within three months. The ECB and Durham medical teams expected that the pain was just part of the rehabilitation process and would eventually subside.
He was originally penciled in for Durham’s Vitality Blast game against Knotts Outlaw at Trent Bridge on July 1.
Unfortunately, Mark Wood was unable to re-straighten his arm on Sunday and with time to be fit for the T20 World Cup, it was decided to operate again later this week.
“It’s not really going well,” Wood told Test Match Special during the first ODI against South Africa on Tuesday. “I’m ready again for more surgery probably on Saturday. I played a club game to see how it was when I tested it, so unfortunately it didn’t pull off well. Ready for the World Cup To be, I’m going to do it.
“I have been bowling in the nets for the last two or three weeks, top speed is also away from my full run-up. But it seems to be deteriorating. When I played that club game it was one match in one game. The sign was how it really felt. The next day… I can fully straighten my left arm, but my right arm is still slightly bent.”
The blow is yet another blow to England’s fast bowling stocks, with Jofra Archer’s recovery from a stress fracture of his back still uncertain.
Wood World Cup team hopeful of making it. The need to get to the bottom of the problem stems from the fact that each strengthening session will require a period of recovery, making back-to-back sessions impossible.
“That’s why it’s a tough week this week. That’s why I’m pushing it so much. But this week it needed a decision, so I played club cricket. Unfortunately it didn’t go well. Frustration for me. Did I do all that? Have done something that everyone has asked. It’s just not giving me a break.”