ADELAIDE: England’s cricket squad has suffered a blow before the Ashes series as fast bowler Mark Wood has been declared unavailable because of injury.
Wood suffered a knee injury in the Test match in Perth and has not managed to recover quickly enough to take part in the current series. His unavailability is a setback, for England’s bowling unit, which depends greatly on his speed and expertise.
In reaction the England team has selected pace bowler Matthew Fisher to fill in for Wood. The coaching staff conveyed trust, in Fisher’s capability to rise to the occasion though the absence of Wood still poses a worry as the Ashes series goes on.
This development comes at a crucial stage in the Ashes, putting additional pressure on England’s bowling attack to perform against a strong opposition.
Ashes series: Australia defeat England by eight wickets in second Test
Australia secured an eight-wicket win against England on day four of the second Ashes Test, at the Gabba establishing a 2–0 advantage in the series.
England restarted their innings at 134 for 6 but were dismissed for 241. Michael Neser showed a display securing five wickets whereas Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland took two wickets apiece. Brendan Doggett contributed one wicket to conclude England’s innings.
Pursuing a goal of 65 runs Australia easily achieved the total with eight wickets remaining. Travis Head boosted the score of his team by 22 runs. Jake Weatherald was able to contribute 17 runs before his dismissal. Captain Steve Smith stretched the innings further with 23 runs while Marnus Labuschagne, who was batting at the other end, also kept the innings alive with 3 runs.
In the course of the game Australia established a landmark achievement. In an Ashes encounter that dates back to 1882, this is the very first instance when all eleven Australian batsmen have managed to score at least ten runs each in a single innings.
The Australian team had gone on to do such a feat on two other occasions but not in an Ashes Test, one against India in 1948 and another against Sri Lanka in 1992. Nevertheless, this is the first time that the landmark has been hit in an Ashes Test.
