Mark Wood targets late-summer return after knee setback disrupts comeback

Mark Wood is trying to turn a damaged comeback into a late-summer rescue act for England. The 36-year-old pace bowler says he hopes to bowl again later in the summer after surgery on his left knee in March 2025 and a second flare-up that ended his Ashes return after just 11 overs in Perth.

Wood’s latest setback has made his recovery as important to England’s Test plans as any selection debate. He missed the entire English home summer in 2025 after the knee operation, then returned for the first Ashes Test against Australia in November 2025 before the problem returned in the same knee. Speaking on the BBC’s Strategic Timeout programme, Wood said he needs to “take it slow” and believes he has “maybe one more chance” to get his comeback right. That is not a throwaway line from a veteran easing toward the finish. It is the language of a fast bowler who knows one bad push can end the road altogether.

The timeline gives England little room for optimism without evidence. England’s first home Test of the summer begins against New Zealand on 4 June, and Wood’s name sits in a wider pace conversation that already includes Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue, Gus Atkinson, Matthew Potts, Matthew Fisher and Sonny Baker. England need availability, not sentiment. Wood has spent long stretches away from Test cricket before, including a 15-month spell out through elbow trouble before the Ashes, and even after he had appeared close to returning, swelling setbacks kept interrupting the build-up.

When Wood has been fit, he has changed England’s ceiling. He was player of the match at Headingley in the 2023 Ashes after bullying Australia with raw pace, and he finished England’s 4-0 defeat in 2021-22 as their leading wicket-taker with 17 wickets. Across all formats, he has 146 caps and 38 Tests, numbers that underline both his value and how much wear and tear his body has absorbed.

England’s concern is bigger than one bowler. If Wood cannot play Test cricket again, he would join James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes in leaving the longest format, and those four seamers have taken 1,619 Test wickets between them. For an attack already in transition, Wood’s knee is no longer just a medical issue. It is a question of whether England can keep enough pace, experience and strike power intact for the summer ahead.