A flare-up of his left knee ailment has forced England’s senior fast bowler Mark Wood to miss the rest of the Ashes 2025–26 series. After suffering crushing losses in Perth and Brisbane, England is now behind 2-0 and must now make a comeback without one of its fastest and most skilled seamers. Ahead of the third Test in Adelaide, the selectors have added Surrey seamer Matthew Fisher to the team.
Following knee surgery earlier this year, Mark Wood made his Test cricket comeback in Perth.
But before suffering severe pain in his left knee—the same problem that terminated his Champions Trophy campaign in February—the 35-year-old bowled just 11 wicketless overs in the opening Test.
After missing the Brisbane Test, more medical evaluations revealed that he would not be able to recuperate in time for the rest of the trip. According to the ECB, Wood will take a plane home this week to start his recuperation under their medical staff.
Matthew Fisher, a member of the England Lions team in Australia, has been called up by England to fill the hole. In 2022, Fisher faced the West Indies in his lone Test match. Despite his lacklustre recent performances for the Lions—he has only claimed two wickets in three games—his familiarity with Australian conditions has made him the visitors’ go-to backup.
In the major series, England hasn’t gotten off to the start they would have preferred. The team has been exposed by their eight-wicket losses in the Brisbane Test and the Perth opener. However, Josh Hazlewood, an Australian pacer, will miss the entire series due to an Achilles injury. But captain Pat Cummins is expected to make a comeback to the starting lineup. It’s also anticipated that Usman Khawaja will get healthy again.
England’s revised Ashes 2025–2026 team
Zak Crawley, Ben Stokes (c), Harry Brook, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Matthew Fisher, Jacob Bethell, Matthew Potts, Josh Tongue, Will Jacks, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Brydon Carse,.
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