Andrew Strauss, the director of England cricket, has sought answers from his medical team after the fast bowler Mark Wood was ruled out for the first half of the season following a second operation on his left ankle in the space of five months.
Wood was set to return to bowling with Durham this month following surgery on the troublesome joint in November. This initial procedure was only ever intended to tackle acute pain at the front of his ankle, however.
It was hoped that discomfort at the back of his foot could continue to be managed with injections, as was the case last summer.
But the plan backfired when Wood, having at first responded well during his recovery, reported more pain in pre-season and, following a visit to an ankle specialist in the Netherlands at the start of the week, underwent a second operation in London on Thursday to remove a small piece of floating bone that was getting trapped in the joint and causing irritation.
It is this follow-up surgery that has prompted questions as to why the two procedures, which the original surgeon said could not be performed at the same time, were not at least done closer together and see the injury fixed once and for all, even if it would have meant an extended recovery time for the 26-year-old.
There is a lingering sense of frustration that the player himself has been through months of gruelling rehabilitation in order to be fit for the new season, only to suffer a setback that has meant the second operation was required anyway. The only consolation comes in the belief that the problem has finally been solved, even if Wood’s workload will continue to need managing.
Wood’s club captain at Durham, Paul Collingwood, said the fast bowler’s hard work to get fit, which included travelling to South Africa over the winter and to London in pre-season to use the outdoor covered nets at the Kia Oval, now amounted to a waste of time, with the player himself understandably upset.
Collingwood, the former England international, said: “It’s disappointing that he’s gone through the winter to get ready for the season and has had to have another operation. That’s from England’s point of view more than anything, but it would have been great to have him play a few games for us [at Durham].
“I don’t know the ins and outs of why decisions are made but it’s a shame because in my eyes about four months have been have lost. We need to keep his pecker up. He’ s desperate to play and anyone who goes through injuries knows you do get down.”
England announced Wood’s second operation on Friday morning in a short statement and while no specific time-frame has been put on his recovery, a 10-week recovery period is expected that could in theory see him back for the first Test with Pakistan on 14 July. He played in six Tests last summer, including four in England’s Ashes win.
