Mark Wood’s elbow injury increases problems for the English side

England are going through a terrible period in red ball cricket. A staggering 4-0 loss in the Ashes led to massive criticism of the English side. However, one bright spot in that series was the bowling of Mark Wood. The speedster took 17 wickets in four matches at an average of 26.64. 

With the absence of James Anderson and Stuart Broad, Wood was expected to play a key role in the English bowling set up against West Indies. However to make matters worse for them, the 32-year-old pacer has now sustained an elbow injury. He has been ruled out of the first inning and it remains to be seen whether he will be able to recover till the second innings. 

“[The elbow’s] pretty sore at the moment,” Paul Collingwood, England’s interim head coach, said, adding that it was an issue that Wood had not previously encountered. “We’re going to have to assess him overnight and see if he is going to be available for the second innings.” It is a big blow for England as he would have been Root’s go to bowler in search of wickets. 

A major worry for the English side would be that another pacer had suffered a similar issue. Jofra Archer who earlier had elbow soreness which was later diagnosed as stress fracture has been out of action for quite some time now. He has undergone two operations and the second one is likely to keep him out of action till at least May. 

Mark Wood will be hoping that this is not a major injury as he has already suffered multiple injuries from the start of his career. He has also re-worked his run up in order to solve his injury concerns. With no injury concerns lately, he would be hoping that it remains that way only. 

“You need those kind of guys, 90mph guys who can reverse-swing the ball in these conditions. They are gold dust in these conditions. So it will be disappointing if he’s not involved in the second innings, but we’ll have to wait and see,” added Collingwood. The coach knows the importance of his gun bowler and would be hoping to see him back in action.

Coming to the Test match, it was a hard day for the English bowlers as West Indies finished with a score of 373-9 which entitled them to a lead of 62 runs. England will have to bat really well in the second innings in order to put up a fighting total on the board for their bowlers.