England’s Wood cleared of hamstring injury

England fast bowler Mark Wood has been cleared of any problems with his left hamstring following a scan in Perth.

Wood gave England a scare on the first day of their Ashes warm-up match against the England Lions when he left the field suffering from a hamstring strain.

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This is the same left leg the 35-year-old had surgery on after injuring his knee in February.

In his first action since the operation, Wood bowled two spells at four before leaving the field on Thursday.

The Durham right-winger underwent a scan on Friday and was given the green light to resume preparations for the first Test against Australia at Optus Stadium on November 21.

Wood was cleared of injury on the same day Australia seamer Josh Hazlewood was ruled out of the first Test due to his own hamstring problem.

Wood did not feature in Saturday’s final day of the tour match at Lilac Hill, which England won by five wickets. The tourists said he would “continue training as planned” in preparation for the first Test.

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Set 202 to win in just over a session, England completed their three-day journey by reaching the target in 35 overs.

Ollie Pope added to his first innings century with 90 off 67 balls and Joe Root continued his second day failure by spending 75 minutes at the crease for 31.

Harry Brook, who was nervous having scored only two runs in the first innings, was bowled by Will Jacks for 19 while attempting a reverse sweep. England were led to victory by captain Ben Stokes and Jamie Smith.

Jacob Bethell had made 70 earlier for the Lions, finding form too late to push for a place in the Test team. Future Test hopefuls Ben McKinney and Jordan Cox both made their second half-centuries of the match to help the Lions declare on 251-6.

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Shoaib Bashir, off-spinner, struggled again. After returning for 1-68 from 12 overs bowling for the Lions on Friday, he took more punishment as part of England’s attack on Saturday – conceding almost seven runs per over. He was outplayed by his compatriot Jacks, who bowled Root with beauty.

In reality, the action on the field was overshadowed by the news off it.

The nod is a huge boost for Wood, one of the fastest bowlers to ever play for England, although his 37 Test career was blighted by injuries.

He has not played a Test since August 2024 – first because of an elbow problem and then a knee injury.

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Despite the long absence, England wanted Wood in their XI for the first Test, alongside Jofra Archer, to hit Australia with pace on what should be a lively surface at Optus Stadium.

The tourists have hinted at their plans for the Ashes opener by naming five pace bowlers, including Wood and Archer, and no front-rowers in their XI for the tour match against the Lions.

England will now have to assess Wood’s inclusion in their squad for the first Test, and how it would affect the balance of their attack if they do not take risks. Josh Tongue could be included as a like-for-like replacement, or England could turn to a rotation option.

If Wood does not play in the first Test, there is an opportunity to build his fitness in the Lions matches.

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The Lions meet a Cricket Australia XI at Lilac Hill at the same time as the first Test, then move on to a two-day pink ball match against a Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra.

Meanwhile, leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed has been ruled out of the rest of the Lions tour due to a leg injury.

Ahmed missed out on selection for the Ashes squad when England preferred Jacks as their second player.

The 21-year-old will return to the UK but is expected to be fit to play for the Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League from next month.