Who replaces Jimmy Anderson in Ashes?

Depending on what you were looking for at Trent Bridge on Monday, there was good and bad news for England paceman Mark Wood.

Wood is expected to replace Jimmy Anderson in the XI that thumped Australia by eight wickets at Edgbaston.

“For me, if he’s fit, he plays at Trent Bridge,” Stuart Broad wrote in his Daily Mail column.

It’s a reasonable expectation – the 25-year-old played the opening two Tests ahead of Steve Finn.

Wood has been with the squad for the entire five-Test series, as opposed to Liam Plunkett and Mark Footitt, who were summoned after Anderson’s side strain.

The one caveat is Wood’s left ankle, which prevented him from playing the third Test at Edgbaston.

Wood will need to pass a fitness test before the fourth Test starts in Nottingham on Thursday.

England’s short training session on Monday left it no clearer as to whether he will be able to do that.

Wood tried to bowl early on and the signs weren’t great.

He looked in pain while rolling the arm over.

Wood then attempted to throw off a few steps and still looked restricted, with the exercise aborted after consultation with bowling coach Ottis Gibson and team medical staff.

However, the right-armer from Ashington returned an hour late for some shuttle runs and agility work.

Wood completed it without any issue.

Replacing England’s all-time leading wicket-taker Anderson will be an immense ask for a man who has played four Tests, but Broad is confident Wood is up to it.

“We know it’s the swing bowlers who do the damage there and not the seam bowlers,” Broad wrote.

“I’m a big fan of Woody. I love how he goes about things; how hard he works and how much he enjoys the game.”

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