As England prepared to sign off their failed Champions Trophy campaign against South Africa on Saturday, the news regarding Mark Wood was not promising. Already out of the match, the fast bowler is fearing the latest round of surgery in his injury-blighted career.
There will be no official update until Wood has seen a specialist back in the UK next week. However, the “locking” the 35-year-old experienced in his left knee just four overs into Wednesday’s eight-run defeat by Afghanistan is believed to relate to torn cartilage.
The question now, with Wood having pushed through the pain barrier on the day to send down four more overs at reduced pace, is whether there is ligament damage also.
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It rather summed up England’s woeful winter of white-ball cricket, with Jos Buttler’s time as captain ending and the team now solely tasked with trying to avoid a seventh successive ODI defeat for the first time since 2006. England’s men have also never previously exited a global white-ball group stage without at least one victory.
More pressing, however, is the long-term prognosis for Wood given the centrality of his 90mph-plus pace to their Ashes plans and a year that will define Brendon McCullum’s tenure as head coach. The same can be said for Brydon Carse, who flew home this week when a toe blister that originally required stitches suffered a further infection.
Carse was replaced by Rehan Ahmed in the squad and the leg-spinner may even go straight into the XI. Though unused on the tour of India, Ahmed at least has happy memories of playing the recently refurbished National Stadium Karachi, having taken seven wickets on his Test debut here in late 2022 when just 18 years old.
There has been a focus on England’s batting but it is with the ball that they have arguably struggled the most. It is not just down to subcontinental conditions but also part of a wider trend, with their seamers having averaged 36.5 in ODI cricket since the start of 2022 – the worst figure of the 22 teams to have played the format in this time.
Not only that, Heinrich Klaasen returns for South Africa on Saturday, with the player who arguably did most to extinguish England’s white-ball aura – that incendiary 67-ball 109 during their failed World Cup campaign in 2023 – fit again after a recent elbow injury.
“His skillset is right up there with the world’s best,” said Rob Walter, South Africa’s white-ball coach. “It’s great to have him in the team because you know how destructive he can be. We’re certainly hoping for a number of those knocks over the next 10 days or so.”
England Phil Salt, Ben Duckett, Jamie Smith (wkt), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (capt), Rehan Ahmed, Jamie Overton, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Saqib Mahmood
South Africa Ryan Rickelton (wkt), Temba Bavuma (capt), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Wiaan Mulder, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi
As Walter added, this risks underselling a Proteas team that has developed into a short-form force in recent times, even if it is yet to translate into silverware. Temba Bavuma’s side, who brushed aside Afghanistan on this ground last week to the tune of 107 runs, is littered with quality and, in contrast to England, has clearly defined roles.
The washout between Australia and Afghanistan sees the former through to the semi-finals. However, South Africa, in second place, can now top the group with a victory and also progress if a defeat is not a heavy one. Either way, England have their work cut out if they are to get something out of this sorry campaign.
