Mark Wood feels ready to crank up the pace at Lord’s this coming week should the instruction come from Joe Root. But the long-term aim is still to become a bowler for all seasons and one who lives up to some as yet unfulfilled hype in Test cricket.
Unless an emerald green pitch is rolled out at Lord’s when England take on Pakistan from Thursday, and makes the uncapped spin of Dom Bess as redundant as an Argos catalogue in Ikea, then the chief talking point will be whether it is Wood or Chris Woakes – who took 11 wickets in the same fixture two years ago – who gets the final spot. Though Wood is the incumbent, having replaced Woakes for the final Test of the winter in Christchurch, Root and the head coach, Trevor Bayliss, will still take a view based on the surface. Grassy, and the Warwickshire bowler could win his spot back; dry with potential for reverse later on, and it is over to Durham’s fast but slightly fragile right-armer.
Asked during the launch of the new England kits where his pace is currently, Wood replies: “That’s a question for the speed gun. There’s times I can bowl quickly and times I know I can but don’t like to force it because I’ll leak runs. It depends what the captain wants – if he wants me to rev it up then I’m happy to do that.
“I want to be a bowler for all conditions. But I’d certainly be happy if they said Woakes, Jake Ball or whoever is more suited to a pitch – I wouldn’t have a problem. More than anything I want the team to do well. Hopefully I can bring something else when conditions aren’t like that, where it’s drier, reverses or a slower pitch.”
Such skills came to the fore during Wood’s first county match of the season when, having called time early on a bench-warming spell in the Indian Premier League with Chennai Super Kings, he used similar conditions to claim a career-best six for 46 in Durham’s run-soaked draw at Derbyshire, which finished on Monday. His dismissal of Wayne Madsen, caught behind failing to evade a searing short ball from around the wicket, was his personal favourite and demonstrated why England have persisted for three years.
With 28 wickets at 41 from 11 Tests, the 28-year-old accepts that while injuries are a factor, the Test-watching public are yet to see his best. “I need to get more wickets, I need to be more consistent,” says Wood. “To be honest I’ve got a lot to prove to the selectors, coaches, media, the fans because I’m a guy people probably had high hopes for and I’ve not done it consistently enough. An average of 40 is pretty average to be honest and I definitely want to lower that.
“I’ve got a point to prove to myself that I am good enough to do it at that level. Am I really as good as I think I am? Am I as good as the commentators, selectors think I am? Can I live up to that? I’ve got a long way to go.”
Such honesty is one of Wood’s endearing qualities, as is the drive to succeed at Test level in an era when, as a fast bowler with a back story of injuries and operations, he could easily jump on the Twenty20 train as a white-ball specialist.
The reason why not? “When I was in the back garden as a kid it was never T20 or 50-over, it was Test matches. In my mind all the best players were at Test level and that’s what I wanted to strive to. These days, the 50- and 20-over stuff is a huge part of the game so I’m delighted to be part of such a good team.
“But the pinnacle for me is still trying to get into that Test side and I think I have a real point to prove.”
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/may/19/mark-wood-england-pakistan-test
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