Mark Wood Injury Casts Doubt Over England's Sri Lanka Test Hopes

Mark Wood's injury has cast a shadow over England's Test series against Sri Lanka, with the paceman likely to miss the second Test and potentially the remainder of the series.

Wood suffered a right thigh muscle injury late on day three of the first Test in Manchester, forcing him to leave the field after bowling just 11 overs. An ECB statement on Saturday confirmed that Wood would not take the field on day four, and he subsequently underwent a scan to determine the extent of the damage.

England are hopeful that the injury is a strain rather than a tear, but it seems certain that Wood will miss the upcoming Test match at Lord's, which begins this Thursday. Given his unique standing as the fastest bowler in the world, England may be reluctant to risk Wood for the final Test at the Kia Oval, which gets underway on September 6.

Olly Stone, the spare fast bowler in the squad, is likely to replace Wood in the XI. In terms of squad reinforcements, Sam Curran could come into the reckoning. The allrounder is currently playing for Surrey against Lancashire at the Kia Oval and took 1 for 21 in the first innings. Picking Curran would allow England to operate with the allrounder they are lacking after captain Ben Stokes was ruled out of the rest of the summer with a torn hamstring.

The loss of Wood was apparent as stand-in captain Ollie Pope oversaw a wicket-less start to day four. Sri Lanka batted past drinks and through to a rain interruption shortly before lunch without losing a wicket, as Kamindu Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal extended the lead to 153.

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