England pacer Mark Wood sidelined once again due to injury

Fast bowler picked up side strain towards the end of South Africa tour, to miss Sri Lanka Test series

England pacer Mark Wood is pout due to a side strain. Reuters

England fast bowler Mark Wood suffered yet an injury setback after he was ruled out of the Sri Lanka Test tour due to a side strain.

Wood was England's top performer during the recent tour of South Africa, taking 12 wickets in two matches at Port Elizabeth and Johannesburg. He even picked up a man-of-the-match award for his career-best haul of 9-100 in England's win in the fourth Test.

A statement from the England board on Friday said scans had revealed the 30-year-old sustained “a small tear to his left side”.

Wood will now “commence an injury rehabilitation programme, working with England and Durham medical teams respectively”, the statement added.

Lancashire fast bowler Saqib Mahmood will replace Wood in the England Test squad. The players are set to travel to Sri Lanka on March 2.

Wood had been troubled by a similar injury following the World Cup, which saw him miss the 2019 Ashes series. He might not even have featured in the fourth Test at Wanderers had Jofra Archer not pulled out on the morning of the match with what was later diagnosed as a fractured elbow.

England begin the two-Test series against Sri Lanka in Galle on March 19. Opener Keaton Jennings and wicketkeeper-batsman Ben Foakes were both recalled to the squad.

Jonny Bairstow, though, will not be in the 16-man touring party while England’s record wicket-taker James Anderson is another high-profile absentee, with Moeen Ali unavailable for Test selection.