England fast bowler, Mark Wood, suffered an injury during the first Test between England and Sri Lanka at the Old Trafford Cricket Ground in Manchester. He was ruled out for the remainder of the Test match and may not be fit to play the next Test match, starting on August 29 at the Lord’s Cricket Ground.
Now, ECB has declared that Wood has been ruled out of the entirety of the Sri Lankan series and Josh Hull has been named as his replacement. Former England captain, Michael Vaughan, talked about the impact that Wood’s loss will have on the team.
Vaughan feels that England will miss Wood more than their captain, Ben Stokes, as there are no bowlers in the team who can bowl at 95 miles per hour consistently in a Test match.
“Mark Wood is the key; look at all the England side, even Ben Stokes now. Ben Stokes is a talisman, an incredible cricketer, England miss but they will miss Wood even more because there is no one who can bowl 95 miles an hour,” Michael Vaughan told the BBC Match special.
Vaughan feels that he is a rare commodity in the team and becoming the most important player in the team because of the pace at which he bowls and which can’t be replicated by no other bowler in England’s squad.
“Mark Wood is becoming quite quickly the most important member of this team because he brings something that they haven’t got anyone that can bring. Even Jofra Archer can’t bowl this pace. He (Wood) is bowling 95 to 97 miles an hour,” he added.
England are also missing Ben Stokes along with Mark Wood
Meanwhile, England are missing their Test captain Ben Stokes due to injury as well. Stokes suffered a hamstring injury during the Hundred 2024 for the Northern Superchargers and has been ruled out of the entire summer. He is expected to be fit for the tour of Pakistan in October. Ollie Pope is captaining the side in absence of Stokes.
Meanwhile, England registered a comfortable 5-wicket victory against Sri Lanka in the first Test in Manchester. Sri Lanka scored 236 runs in the first innings, followed by England scoring 326 in their first innings. Sri Lanka came up with 358 runs in their second innings, setting a target of 205 for England. England achieved the target in 57.2 overs with five wickets in hand.
