Mark Wood

England bowler Mark Wood, tremendously fast but frequently injured, has in his brief career been something of a cautionary tale like many other out-and-out fast men in modern times.

Unlike some of his other similarly ill-starred counterparts, Wood, despite multiple setbacks, particularly injuries to his ankle, did not compromise his speeds for a longer career. Instead, he abandoned the short run-up that had marked his career until about mid-2018 for a longer one that would put less pressure on his body and still allow him to crank out top speeds.

Wood made his first-class debut for Durham in April 2011, his List A debut the following month, and played his first County Championship match against Nottinghamshire in August the same year.

Like fellow Durham quick Stephen Harmison, Wood hails from Ashington in Northumberland. Skinny and medium height for a fast bowler, with a skiddy, whippy delivery, he took 19 wickets at a little over 21 in his first five first-class appearances, including a match-winning five-for against Nottinghamshire in 2012.

The following summer was Wood's breakthrough: he claimed 27 first-class wickets at 24.07 to help Durham to the Championship title and confirm his status as the latest in an impressive collection of homegrown pace bowlers. His 2014 season was disrupted by the first appearance of a long-running ankle problem, but he made an instant impression on his Test debut against New Zealand the following summer, bowling above 90mph and celebrating wickets with abandon. He played four Tests in the Ashes that followed, where he took the wicket that sealed England's series win, at Trent Bridge.

There was another comeback from injury in the second half of 2016, when Wood delivered some of the most potent fast-bowling spells of the season, taking Durham to the final of the T20 Blast. He also featured in England's 4-1 ODI series win over Pakistan. Then, further injury issues ruled him out of the tours of Bangladesh and India and he underwent a third ankle operation within a year, which cast doubt upon his prospects. Though he came back in 2017, he was down on pace somewhat, and wasn't effective in his two home Tests, against South Africa, and he lost his England central contract at the end of the season.

Returning yet again in 2019, he took his first Test five-wicket haul, in Gros Islet, bowling at hair-raising speeds and helping England secure a consolation win in their 1-2 series defeat in the West Indies. That summer he made it back to the ODI side and went on to play a huge role in England's first World Cup title. He and Jofra Archer traded records for the quickest deliveries of the tournament - both exceeded 95 mph, and while Archer finished with more wickets (21 to Wood's 18), Wood had the better strike rate. He sustained a serious side strain during the epic final, against New Zealand, but with the match in the balance, continued to bowl at high pace.

He missed the Ashes series that followed but was back to his mercurial best in South Africa early in 2021, taking nine wickets in a Player-of-the Match performance in Johannesburg to seal the Test series for England. He made it to Australia at last in 2021-22, saving his best for last: nine wickets in the Hobart Test, though England were blanked 4-0 in the series. In March of 2022 came another surgery - this time on a troublesome elbow, but Wood was back later in the year for the ludicrously high-scoring Bazball tour of Pakistan, where his 4 for 65 on an unforgiving Multan track kept Pakistan in check in the second Test, putting England 2-0 ahead.

Come the home Ashes of 2023, Wood tore into Australia at Headingley, finishing with seven wickets and the Player of the Match award, having sealed the win with the bat in the company of Chris Woakes. In his three Tests that series, where he averaged just over 20, he accounted for Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith and Marnus Labuschagne twice apiece.

Wood took nine wickets in his four games in England's T20 World Cup-winning campaign in 2021 but missed the latter matches with a calf injury. Two years later, in his second coming in the IPL (he played one game for Chennai Super Kings in 2018), he made an unimpeachable start, taking 5 for 14 for his new side, Lucknow Super Giants, but missed the second half of the season due to the birth of his second child. Come the ODI World Cup that year, Wood, like most of his team-mates, was forgettable in England's shambolic defence of their title.