Stuart Broad Doubts England Will Take the Risk with Mark Wood at Lord's Tes

Stuart Broad, the former England fast bowler, claimed to be surprised if Mark Wood were to feature in the second Test at Lord's after he missed day four of the first Test against Sri Lanka due to an injury to his right thigh muscle. Wood was injured on the third day of the Old Trafford Test, hobbling off the field after delivering just two balls of his 11th over of Sri Lanka's second innings. "We don't know what grade the injury is but comparing it to how bad Ben Stokes' hamstring injury was, which was a grade two, you can tell he was in a lot of pain," said Broad.

Broad said, "Wood did try to bowl, and with the way he bowls, it's important not to make it worse. If Sri Lanka was in a better position, it might have been different. With them being six wickets down, you would think there's enough available to get the job done. I would be surprised if they took a gamble on him at Lord's on Thursday.". "Attention will then turn to making sure he's good for the Oval."

Ex-skipper Nasser Hussain said, "If Sri Lanka get past 200 ahead, that will be a testing chase for England without Ben Stokes. Kamindu Mendis has done a good job against both pace and spin. England need someone early from the three in-form batsmen.". With favorable conditions and a decent pitch, a target of 150 or 160 should be achievable. However, if the lead extends to 200, it will make things more difficult, particularly without Stokes.”

Ex-batter Mark Butcher gave his opinions on how the England team has changed. He was all in praise for the changes brought in by Rob Key, Brendon McCullum, and Ben Stokes. "The evolution of this team is a positive. A lot of the guys who have come from County Cricket—even though a lot of people didn't know about them—have fitted in impeccably and done a great job. That tells you about the environment they are creating and the talent that's there.".