England pacer Wood urged to not lift his kids

'There is nothing I can really do on my right side'

England fast bowler Mark Wood has been told to stop picking his children up with his right arm following an elbow injury, he said on Tuesday.

Wood, 34, is a father of two. 

The pacer discovered that he had bone stress in his elbow during a medical check-up after he had injured his right thigh during last month's first Test against Sri Lanka that ruled him out for the year.

"There is nothing I can really do on my right side," Wood told the BBC's Test Match Special.

"I have been told to stop picking my kids up with my right arm. I have to do everything with my left."

Wood, who has taken 119 wickets in 37 Tests, will miss England's Test tours of Pakistan in October and New Zealand in December.

"It was a bizarre injury... I had a bit of a groin tweak and went for a scan with a stiff elbow, which is not uncommon for a fast bowler.

"(But) they said I have some bone stress in my elbow. I must have been playing with it. They were worried it would be a stress fracture but I have got to see a specialist in another few days to determine that." he added.

Wood aims to return to full fitness by early 2025 for England's white-ball tour of India and the ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan, scheduled to begin in February 2025, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said earlier this month.