Wood ‘improving’ but thinking of life after cricket

Durham quick Mark Wood says his battered right knee is “improving” on a six-weekly re-scan cycle, yet the 36-year-old concedes he is already mapping out a post-cricket future should the latest rehabilitation “not go well”.

Wood, who returned to Test duty in the 2025-26 Ashes after 15 months out—first with an elbow problem, then surgery on the same knee—managed only 11 overs in the series-opening defeat at the Gabba before swelling flared and ended his tour. Speaking on the Tailenders podcast, he described the injury as “an explosion in my knee” and revealed that specialists have now broken his comeback into two six-week blocks.

“I’ve started running now,” Wood said. “If the next scan shows progress, I might begin light bowling, but it’s real slow going at this stage of my career. Push too hard and that could be it.”

The setback continued a career-long battle with injuries that has already required multiple operations on elbow and knee. Wood spent seven months rebuilding strength in the joint, attempting to squeeze in county cricket before the Ashes but never feeling the knee was “quite ready”. He eventually appeared in England’s lone warm-up against the Lions at Lilac Hill, sending down eight overs, and was cleared for the first Test only after a last-minute hamstring scan.

With 119 wickets from 38 Tests since his 2015 debut, Wood remains one of England’s fastest-ever bowlers and a key figure in the 2015 Ashes triumph, the 2019 50-over World Cup and the 2022 T20 World Cup. Yet the uncertainty surrounding his knee has prompted him to explore life beyond the game.

“I’ve started doing podcasts, working on my coaching badges, and for the first time I’m thinking about what I should do if this doesn’t go well,” he admitted.

For now, Wood’s immediate focus is the next six-week checkpoint and the hope that another upward arrow on the consultant’s report will allow him to wheel away again at close to 90 mph. If not, the fast bowler who has thrilled England supporters with express pace and wholehearted spells appears ready to face a future without the game that has defined him.