The Ashes: England quick Mark Wood cleared for first Test following hamstring scans

England spearhead Mark Wood will not take any further part in their Lilac Hill warm-up match, but the team are confident he will be fit for the first Test.

The injury-prone quick had Pommie hearts in mouths on Thursday after pulling up lame from his second spell and was subsequently sent for scans on his hamstring.

He was spotted doing light work on Friday with the England camp; however, on Saturday, the 35-year-old was cleared of any major damage.

“Following precautionary scans on Friday, England fast bowler Mark Wood has been cleared of any concerns regarding his left hamstring,” they said in a statement.

“He is not expected to feature today - the third day of England’s warm-up match against the Lions XI at Lilac Hill Park, Perth.

“Wood will continue to train as planned in the build-up to the first Test in Perth.”

It means Wood will have only eight overs under his belt before the first Test, and given his history, England will be cautious about rolling him out underdone in such a long series.

It comes as England will get another look at their pace attack as they bowl against the England Lions in their final ‘competitive’ hit-out ahead of the first Test.

Brydon Carse did his Test case no harm, looking the best of the England quicks on what was still a relatively docile wicket.

He took the only two wickets to fall in the first session, removing both openers with Tom Haines cutting straight to point while Ben McKinney (68) spooned one to cover.

Interestingly, Shoaib Bashir swapped sides to bowl for the main England squad in a sign that perhaps the door is still ajar for him to play in the first Test.

Jofra Archer did not look overly threatening while Gus Atkinson extracted some bounce, but runs were not hard to come by with Lions reaching 2-154 at lunch.

Test hopeful Jacob Bethell bounced back from his first innings failure to top score with 70 as the Lions declared at 6-251 to set England a target of 202 for victory off 45 overs.