London, March 14 – England fast bowler Mark Wood said he is considering a future beyond cricket for the first time, due to his slow recovery from a knee injury that ended his Ashes tour in Australia.
Wood, 36, returned to Test cricket in November 2025 after 15 months on the sidelines due to an elbow injury followed by knee surgery. However, Wood suffered another setback during the first Ashes Test – bowling just 11 overs before missing the second match due to knee swelling and being ruled out of the tour entirely.
"The recovery process is quite slow at this stage of my career. It's a delicate balance, and if I push too hard, that could be the end," Wood said on the BBC Tailenders podcast.
Wood has taken 119 wickets in 38 matches since making his Test debut in 2015. He was part of the England team that won the 2015 Ashes, the 2019 ODI World Cup, and the 2022 T20 World Cup. He also said his recovery is being managed in six-week cycles, with specialists conducting scans at each interval.
"It's six-week blocks; it's not day by day. Specialists conduct scans every six weeks. It has been improving since the initial diagnosis of an explosion in my knee in Australia. So, every six weeks has seen improvement. I have started running now, and I am hoping that by the next block, I can start bowling lightly."
Wood also regretted not getting opportunities in county cricket before departing for Australia to play in the Ashes. "I tried to get back at certain points, but my knee wasn't quite ready. It's easy to say that now, but even if I was at 80 per cent, at least the game would have given us an indication of where I was."
With uncertainty hanging over his playing future, Wood said his thoughts had begun drifting beyond the boundary for the first time. "I have started thinking about other things, doing podcasts, and getting my coaching badges. I have now started to think about what I should do if this doesn't go well."