Wood could chop himself out of the Hundred picture
ENGLAND quick Mark Wood could opt out of this year’s Hundred tournament in a bid to manage his workload over the summer.
Wood was not among a list of 137 men and women retained ahead of the fourth edition of the competition, with London Spirit using the spot dedicated to a centrally-contracted England player on opener Zak Crawley.
While he could have been kept on in one of the team’s other vacant slots, there was an appreciation that the 34-year-old Durham man is highly likely to be rested in August.
He is inked into England’s plans for the T20 World Cup in June, followed closely by three Tests against the West Indies in July, and taking on another assignment so soon may be a step too far for a player who has a litany of injury problems behind him.
Wood’s name has been submitted for this month’s draft on March 20, where a total of 75 deals will be done to complete the rosters for 2024, but the PA news agency understands he could withdraw before then if the England management agree he should be wrapped in cotton wool.
Having signed a lucrative threeyear deal with the England and Wales Cricket Board in October, Wood subsequently pulled out of this year’s Indian Premier League for similar reasons.
Like Wood, England’s Test vicecaptain Ollie Pope missed last year’s Hundred through injury and he is in the market for a new side after Welsh Fire held on to Jonny Bairstow instead.
Pope will surely attract plenty of interest in an available talent pool that also includes the likes of Jason Roy, the 2019 World Cup winner who has been let go by Oval Invincibles, and Dawid Malan, who was the top run-scorer in 2022 with Trent Rockets.
Northern Superchargers, who will be coached by Andrew Flintoff, have first pick in the men’s section after finishing bottom last year and have cleared some space at the top of their order by releasing Adam Lyth and Tom Banton.
In the women’s Hundred, England pair Amy Jones and Lauren Filer are both up for grabs after leaving Birmimgham Phoenix and London Spirit respectively.
A total of 20 overseas signings have been retained across the tournament.
They include Australian stars Ellyse Perry (Birmingham Phoenix), Adam Zampa (Oval Invincibles) and Nathan Ellis (London Spirit), Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan (Trent Rockets), South Africa quick Marizanne Kapp (Oval Invincibles) and West Indian power hitter Hayley Mathews (Welsh Fire).