Mark Wood’s comeback uncertain, considers life beyond cricket

Mark Wood has revealed that he has begun thinking about a future beyond cricket as he continues to recover slowly from the knee injury that prematurely ended his involvement in the recent The Ashes in Australia.The 36-year-old England fast bowler suffered another setback during the opening Test of the Ashes after bowling just 11 overs, before being ruled out of the remainder of the series due to swelling in his knee.

Injury struggles continue for England pacer

Wood had only recently returned to Test cricket in November 2025 after spending 15 months out of action because of an elbow injury followed by knee surgery. However, the latest setback has raised fresh concerns over his long-term future in the game.

Speaking on the BBC Tailenders podcast, Wood admitted that the recovery process has been slow and that pushing himself too hard could risk ending his career.“It’s real slow going with the stage I’m at in my career. It’s quite a fine balance where if I push this too hard, then that could be it,” Wood said.Recovery progressing in stagesWood explained that his rehabilitation is being carefully monitored in six-week cycles, with specialists reviewing scans at each stage to assess progress.

“It’s six-week blocks; it’s not day by day. It’s specialists and rescans every six weeks. It’s been improving since what I got told had been an explosion in my knee in Australia.”The pacer added that he has recently resumed running and hopes to begin light bowling if the next recovery phase goes well. “I’ve started running now, and I’m hoping by the next block it’s in a position where maybe I can start lightly bowling.”

Regret over lack of match practice

Wood also reflected on his preparation before the Ashes, suggesting that playing county cricket before travelling to Australia might have helped him assess his fitness better.

“I tried to get back at certain points, but my knee wasn’t quite ready. It’s easy in hindsight; even if I was at 80 per cent, at least the game would have given us an indicator of where I was.”

Thinking about life after cricket

With uncertainty surrounding his recovery, Wood admitted that he has started to consider life beyond professional cricket for the first time. “I’ve started thinking about other things, doing podcasts and working on my coaching badges.

I’ve now started to try and think for the first time about what I should do if this doesn’t go well.”Wood has enjoyed a successful international career since making his Test debut in 2015, claiming 119 wickets in 38 Tests and playing a role in some of England’s biggest triumphs, including the 2015 Ashes, the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup, and the 2022 ICC T20 World Cup.