When on song, Mark Wood can shake up oppositions with serious pace, but his career has been marred by persistent injuries.
“60 to 80 jabs in my ankle”
“Two knee operations, two elbow operations, three on my elbow, and I reckon, without an exaggeration, maybe 60 to 80 jabs in my ankle,” summed up Wood in an interview with Sky Sports. The careers of fast bowlers are generally plagued by injuries, but Wood dominates even among them. Here is an attempt at a comprehensive list of injuries he's suffered through his career.
Multiple left ankle injuries (2015-2016)
Wood made his Test debut in the first match of the 2015 Ashes, at Lord’s. He picked up nine wickets across his first two Tests, but missed the third with an injury to his left ankle. “I’ve never had an operation yet but that might be the case [in future],” he felt. The words turned out to be prophetic.
Wood recovered for the rest of the Ashes. However, in the next home summer, the injury kept him out of the Tests (though he recovered in time for the ODIs).
Side strain (2019)
Soon after being part of England’s first ever men’s World Cup-winning XI, Wood missed the first two Test matches of the Ashes that followed due to a side strain.
Right elbow (March 2022)
Wood played in four of the five Tests of the 2021/22 Ashes as well as the first Test of the West Indies tour that followed not too long afterwards. There, he picked up an injury to his right elbow that ruled him out of the rest of the tour as well as well as the IPL that followed. He needed a surgery.
Body stiffness (November 2022)
Wood played in every league game during England’s triumphant 2022 T20 World Cup campaign (he had 9-108 in 14 overs) before “body stiffness” forced him out of the semi-final and final.
England handled Wood’s workload well, waiting out for two Tests during the 2023 Ashes before he returned to bowl one of the fastest spells of recent times. His performance in 2023 made him a Wisden Cricketer of the Year.
Right thigh muscle injury (August 2024)
Two balls into his 11th over of the innings, Wood limped off the ground during the 2024 Old Trafford Test match against Sri Lanka. An ECB release confirmed that he had sustained a right thigh muscle injury. He was ruled out of the rest of the series.
Right elbow bone stress injury (September 2024)
Two weeks after the above incident, Wood underwent scans on his right elbow: upon assessing them, medical experts concluded that he had suffered bone stress injury. He had noticed “increasing stiffness and discomfort in the elbow” in the West Indies series earlier that year. He missed the 2024/25 season...
Left knee ligament damage (March 2025)
... though he returned in time for the India tour and the Champions Trophy. He then left the ground during England’s second match of the Champions Trophy, against Afghanistan, with discomfort to his left knee. Scans revealed ligament damage, ruling him out for four months.
Left hamstring stiffness (November 2025)
Wood had not played any competitive cricket since the Champions Trophy when England included him in their squad for the 2025/26 Ashes. During a tour game at Lilac Hill, he bowled two four-overs spells before leaving the ground with a stiff hamstring: subsequent scans cleared him.
Left knee recurrence (December 2025)
Wood bowled only 11 overs in the first Test of the 2025/26 Ashes as he sustained an injury. He sat out of the second Test before being finally ruled out of the remainder of the tour.
