As England pushed for victory in the first Test vs Sri Lanka, they were dealt a blow as tearaway pacer Mark Wood was unable to take the field on the 4th day. The official announcement was made by the ECB on the morning of Saturday, August 24th. The right-arm quick managed to send down less than 20 overs in the Test match.
It is pertinent to state here that the news was not unexpected given that the 34-year-old limped off the field having delivered just two balls of his 11th over of the innings on the 3rd day. As per the media release, “He (Mark Wood) will not return to the field today and will continue to be assessed by the England medical team to determine the full extent of the injury”.
Wood’s absence meant that England and the stand-in skipper Ollie Pope had to rely on the services of the three pacers Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, and Matthew Potts other than the spinners Shoaib Bashir, Joe Root, and Dan Lawrence – the part-time off-spinner from Essex with 3 wickets in Tests and 35 scalps in first-class cricket.
While the Sri Lankan batters must have breathed a sigh of relief upon receiving this news given how rapidly Wood had bowled throughout this Test match, it didn’t matter a lot in the end. Woakes and Matthew Potts chipped in with three wickets apiece while Atkison took a couple of useful wickets to dismiss Sri Lanka for 326 on the 4th day. That meant the home side were set a target of just 205 in order to secure a 1-0 lead in the series.
Earlier in the Test, England got into a commanding position thanks largely to the stunning hundred by wicket-keeper batter Jamie Smith. At one stage, the home side was reeling at 187 for 5 in pursuit of Sri Lanka’s first-innings total of 236. With the match hanging in the balance and a long tail exposed because of Ben Stokes’ absence, Smith showed exactly why he has been picked ahead of Ben Foakes and Jonny Bairstow as the designated keeper-batsman. Smith’s 148-ball 111 ensured England got a healthy lead of 122, gaining a moral edge over the visiting side.
Irrespective of the outcome of this game, the England team and fans would be worried about the status of Wood’s injury – the right-arm quick has a history of being sidelined for lengthy periods because of a number of severe injuries. One must also remember that this was the 3rd successive Test of this summer for Wood, as he was part of the last two fixtures of England’s home Test series against West Indies.
Notably, during the aforementioned series – best remembered for James Anderson’s final appearance for England – Wood bowled at the speed of light, setting the speedometer on fire. His 5/40 in the second innings at Edgbaston is arguably the most impressive bowling performance of the English summer so far.
Fans would be hoping that the pacer recovers in time for the second Test against Sri Lanka set to commence on 29th August at Lord’s.
