England fast bowler Mark Wood has been out of action due to repeated injuries and has started his career off the field, which points to a possible call for retirement.
English pacer Mark Wood was once one of the most lethal pacers in the world, but due to frequent injuries, his career got spoiled to a great extent. The fast bowler was last seen for England in the 2025 Ashes Test series against Australia.
Mark Wood has taken 119 Test wickets, 80 ODI wickets and 54 T20I wickets in his career. He was part of the England team that won the Ashes in 2015, the ICC World Cup in 2019 and finally the ICC T20 World Cup in 2022.
“At the stage I am in my career, my pace is really slow,” the 36-year-old English pacer said.
England’s top fast bowler Mark Wood says he has started to think about a future beyond cricket for the first time due to his slow recovery from a knee injury he suffered during the Ashes tour in Australia.
The 36-year-old fast bowler returned to Test cricket after being out of action for 15 months due to an elbow injury and knee surgery. However, he could only take the field to bowl 11 overs against Australia during the First Test of the Ashes, before suffering another knee injury.
Wood said of his recovery on the BBC Taleenders podcast, “It’s going to be really slow with the stage I’m in in my career. It’s quite a fine balance where if I push it too hard, it could happen.”
The fast bowler also regrets not playing county cricket before the Ashes; Despite many efforts he said; His recovery left him unavailable for some county games.
He claimed, “I tried to come back at some points, but my knee wasn’t quite ready. It’s easy to see; even if I was at 80 percent, at least the game would have given us an indication of where I was.”
This is a six-week block; It’s not day-to-day- Mark Wood reveals his recovery program
The lead pacer revealed that he is also not rushing his recovery and his test cycles are not on a day-to-day basis, but on a six-week block.
“It’s a six-week block; it’s not day-by-day. It’s specialists and re-scans every six weeks. It’s been improving since I was told I blew out my knee in Australia,” the English paceman revealed.
Mark Wood also confirmed that he is getting better with every test. After the recent tests, he is hopeful that he will be fit and bowling by the time of the next tests.
He concluded, “So every six weeks there is improvement. I have started running now, and I hope by the next block it will be in a position where I can start bowling light bowling.”
I’ve started thinking about other things – Wood hints at possible retirement
After such a slow pace of recovery for England in international cricket, his role may be very limited, because his increasing age is also a matter of concern for a fast bowler. Amid uncertainty over his future, Wood said that for the first time his thoughts were going beyond cricket.
Mark Wood revealed, “I’ve started thinking about other things, doing podcasts, and doing my coaching badges. I’ve started trying now for the first time to think about what I should do if it doesn’t go well.”
This could also be a hint towards possible retirement plans for the great fast bowler, who would be aiming to end his stint as an international cricketer.
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