Mark Wood uncertain for remainder of Sri Lanka series following thigh injury

Mark Wood may miss England's second Test against Sri Lanka and there are concerns about his availability for the remainder of the series as he picked up a right thigh muscle injury towards the end of day three in the first Test in Manchester.

Wood experienced discomfort after bowling his second ball of his 11th over, before aborting his run-up for the third. He immediately left the field and was replaced in the attack by Joe Root, who took the wicket of Milan Rathnayake with the fourth delivery - Root's second - of the 56th over.

An ECB statement on Saturday morning before the start of day four said that Wood would not take the field. Around half an hour into play, he left Emirates Old Trafford for a scan to determine the full extent of the damage. England are hopeful the issue is a strain rather than a tear.

It seems certain Wood will miss the upcoming Test match at Lord's, which begins this Thursday, regardless of the results of the scan. And given the 34-year-old's unique standing as the fastest bowler in the world, England may be reluctant to risk Wood for the final Test at the Kia Oval, which gets underway on September 6.

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Olly Stone, the spare fast bowler in the squad, is likely to replace Wood in the XI, and was released to play for Nottinghamshire in their Division One County Championship match with Durham.

In terms of squad reinforcements, Sam Curran could come into the reckoning. The allrounder is turning out for Surrey against Lancashire at the Kia Oval - his first red-ball match in over a year - and took 1 for 21 in the first innings. Picking Curran would allow England to operate with the allrounder they are lacking after captain Ben Stokes was ruled out of the rest of the summer with a torn hamstring sustained during the men's Hundred.

The loss of Wood was apparent as stand-in captain Ollie Pope oversaw a wicket-less start to day four. Sri Lanka batted past drinks, and through to a rain interruption shortly before lunch without losing a wicket, as Kamindu Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal, who brought up his half-century, extended the lead to 153.