England's Mark Wood out for four months with knee injury

England's Mark Wood will miss the next four months through injury having undergone surgery on his left knee.

It's the latest setback in a long list of injuries for the paceman, who missed the back end of 2024 with an elbow injury.

The Durham man pulled up during England's Champions Trophy defeat to Afghanistan, with scans revealing Wood had damaged his medial ligament.

If there is a positive to take, it's that the injury is early enough for Wood to focus on rehabilitation in time for the Ashes in Australia at the end of the year, and the 35-year-old could potentially make an appearance at the back end of the summer.

But it's a major blow to England's red- and white-ball sides, with an ODI and T20 series against the West Indies scheduled for May and June before a five-match Test series with India in the summer.

As far as the Test side is concerned, England's bowling attack has lost some of its potency following the retirements of Stuart Broad and James Anderson and there is a notable lack of outright pace.

Although the likes of Jofra Archer, Olly Stone and Brydon Carse are all capable of sending 90mph deliveries down, the former has had plenty of injury issues of his own, while Stone and Carse have a combined 10 Test appearances for England, and Carse himself suffered a toe injury.

In a statement released on Thursday, Wood said: "I'm gutted to be out for so long after representing England across all formats since the start of last year.

"But I've got every confidence that I'll be back firing on all cylinders now that I've been able to sort my knee out.

"I want to thank the surgeon, the doctors, staff, my England teammates and coaches for their support - and, of course, our fans. I can't wait to get back and contribute to what is going to be a huge 2025 for us as a team."

Liam Williams

• England Men's Cricket Team
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