England’s World Cup warm-up against Australia got off to a concerning start, with pacemen Mark Wood and Jofra Archer suffering injury scares and assistant coach Paul Collingwood forced into action as an emergency fielder.
Wood, fresh from taking the opening wicket of Aaron Finch, pulled up midway through his fourth over and headed for the Ageas Bowl pavilion after experiencing discomfort in his run-up.
England sent the rested Archer on in his place but the seamer lasted only a few balls before he appeared to injure himself in the deep, possibly taking a knock to the ankle.
He departed too, leaving Joe Root to enter the field of play, the Test captain having also been rested following the death of his grandfather.
With captain Eoin Morgan already sitting out due to a small fracture in his left index finger suffered in practice on Friday and Adil Rashid managing a shoulder issue, the last thing England needed was more fitness headaches.
Their woes took a faintly comic turn in the 10th over of the day when Collingwood, who turns 43 on Sunday and retired from competitive cricket at the end of last season, appeared as a replacement fielder wearing Wood’s shirt.
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