Scans clear Mark Wood of hamstring injury

Mark Wood has been cleared of a hamstring injury in a relief for England ahead of the Ashes, but he will not take the field on the final day of England's sole warm-up game at Lilac Hill in Perth against England Lions.

In what came as a scare for England, Wood experienced stiffness in his left hamstring on Friday after bowling two four-over spells to start the three-day match. He left the field after his second spell midway through the second session before being sent for scans.

"Following precautionary scans on Friday, England fast bowler Mark Wood has been cleared of any concerns regarding his left hamstring," the ECB said in a statement.

The ECB also said that Wood would continue to train as planned ahead of the first Test, starting on November 21 in Perth, but whether England are going to select him or not remains to be seen.

England have taken a cautious approach with Wood's rehabilitation from the knee injury that he sustained at the Champions Trophy in February. He had initially hoped to feature in the final Test of their summer series against India, but a setback in training ended up ruling him out of the entire home season.

Wood, on the first day, had bowled several lively deliveries on a relatively sedate surface at Lilac Hill, a suburban ground in the fringes of Perth.

Brydon Carse has taken the field after being unavailable on the first day of the warm-up match due to illness. The squad also has Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Matt Potts, Josh Tongue and Ben Stokes as quick-bowling options.

Later on Saturday, Australia suffered a major blow when Josh Hazlewood was ruled out of the opening Test with a hamstring injury after initially being cleared during the Sheffield Shield game against Victoria last week.