England- Pakistan Series
Wood ruled out of opening Test against Pakistan
|| CF DESK ||
Mark Wood, England's fast bowler, has been ruled out of the first Test against Pakistan due to a hip injury sustained during the T20 World Cup.
Wood missed England's T20 World Cup triumph in Australia's semi-finals and final, and he was rested from last week's training camp in Abu Dhabi.
The 32-year-old was hoping be fit to to feature in the series opener, beginning in Rawalpindi on Thursday, although head coach Brendon McCullum has confirmed that Wood will not be involved.
"Mark's not going to make the first Test squad unfortunately because of his injury. We expect him to be ready for the second Test and otherwise we've got a full squad to pick from" McCullum said.
James Anderson, Ollie Robinson, Jamie Overton, and all-rounder Ben Stokes are England's other seam-bowling options in Pakistan.
Stuart Broad is missing the series for family reasons, with the 36-year-old recently becoming a father.
Ben Duckett and Keaton Jennings are vying to open the batting with Zak Crawley after Alex Lees was dropped, while Liam Livingstone, Will Jacks and Rehan Ahmed could make their Test debuts during the series.
Leg-spinner Ahmed, 18, would become the youngest man to play Test cricket for England, surpassing Brian Close, who was 18 years 149 days when he played against New Zealand in July 1949.