England pacer with 253 wickets announces retirement from international cricket, says 'this time I lost the battle'

England’s fast bowler Mark Wood has announced his retirement from international cricket, effective immediately. 36-year-old Wood has been struggling with injuries in the past few years and decided to step away from international cricket at the end of his contract with England Cricket Board (ECB).

Wood made his last international cricket appearance in the Perth Test in Ashes 2025-26. He was ruled out of the remainder of the Ashes due to a knee injury. He never played international cricket again.

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Wood made the announcement on September 22 via Instagram. He says that the announcement shouldn't come as a surprise due to injury. He says that the medical team has advised him to step away from Test and ODI cricket.

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"I've always tried to be resilient and come back from injury to prove people wrong and show everyone what I can do. On medical advice, Test cricket and 50 over cricket are not possible, so the England dream has slowly been ground out of me over the last year,” Wood wrote in his statement.

Mark Wood’s international cricket career

Wood had made his international debut across formats in 2015. He made his last international appearances across formats last year. He played 38 Tests and bagged 119 wickets at an average of 30.79 including five five-wicket hauls and three four-fers. In ODIs, he claimed 80 wickets from 70 games at an average of 40.82 featuring two four-fers. He played 38 T20Is and got 54 wickets at an average of 20.24. 

Wood was part of England's ODI World Cup 2019 triumph. He took one wicket for 49 runs in the final against New Zealand. He was also part of England's T20 World Cup 2022-winning squad. He did not play the final against Pakistan. However, he bagged nine wickets from four games at the event including three-fers against Sri Lanka and Ireland.

Will Wood play T20 franchise cricket?

Wood hasn't played competitive cricket in 10 months. However, he hasn't retired from franchise cricket yet. It is not clear whether he is eligible for the IPL 2027 mini-auction. He is expected to return to T20 franchise cricket when he regains full fitness.