On an Ashes tour in which almost everything seemed to go wrong for England, fast bowler Mark Wood provided a rare ray of light for Joe Root’s side; Wood was England’s leading wicket-taker with 17 at 26.64 and his pace had even the world’s No. 1 batsman jumping over the crease.
Mark Wood provided one of the few positive points for England during The Ashes
It may surprise you to learn that the positives were few and far between England during their Ashes tour. Not really.
However, on the day the series ended with their umpteenth hitting collapse in the last month or so, they found one charging in their long run as Mark Wood claimed his first five-wicket haul from the Ashes, finishing with the best numbers of his career. race 6-37.
In truth, Wood had been noted as a plus point, just above ‘at least it wasn’t 5-0’ and ‘thank God it’s over’ on a very short list, long before Australia bounced off the Bellerive Oval. This was simply a long-awaited reward for his tireless efforts throughout the series.
“Not many improved his reputation, but Mark Wood did,” former England captain Michael Atherton said.
“He bowled with great hostility and spirit throughout, and the Australian crowds embraced him when they saw a great shooter, a fighter. I was thrilled that he got his reward at the end with those wickets after his performances throughout the Serie”.
Going into the series there was pressure on Wood to act. England’s plan had been to arrive in Australia on pace on the generally dry and bouncy surfaces, but injuries to Jofra Archer and Olly Stone left the Durham man the only 90+mph option at Joe Root’s disposal.
From having the ability to choose two out of three of the fast rapid launchers, allowing tourists to rest and rotate the rapids when needed, Wood became the only point of difference and had to live up to expectations of what those few extra miles per hour in the speed gun could affect Australia’s batting lineup.
The pitches during the five tests proved to be very different from what had been seen on previous tours and of course the field where his extra groove was most needed was in the only test of the tour where he rested.
“I think the worst pick was Adelaide … in the best field in the series,” Atherton added. “It was absolutely baffling to me that Mark Wood was left out of that second Test match. He’s played all three games since, two of them were dead matches.”
Given Wood’s injury history, England were always going to be wary of him and they made sure not to play him in back-to-back Tests in the last year.
However, that was largely to ensure he was in top condition for The Ashes. So leaving him out in a crucial game when the series was still very much alive seemed extremely odd, especially given the pitch, and appeared to be a premeditated decision based on the belief that the pink ball would spin for his more traditional English. style bowlers with little or no regard for the actual surface on which it was being played.
England lost heavily to go down 2-0 and Wood came back with his team needing a miracle to get the urn back. However, he cannot be blamed for mistakes in selection and when he was picked he performed and finished the series as England’s best wicket-taker on 17 at an average of 26.64.
It was who, as much as how many, was taking out what showed what it brings. Throughout the series he sacked Marnus Labuschagne three times, Steve Smith twice and David Warner once, and Australia’s big three seemed nervous against Wood’s pace and aggressiveness – no matter how good the batsman is. , the relentless 94 mph rockets are going to challenge you.
Wood obviously isn’t perfect and in the opening innings in Hobart he and Chris Woakes couldn’t keep up the pressure on Australia after Stuart Broad and Ollie Robinson cut the hosts to 12-3. The lack of discipline and consistency of line and length helped the Aussies counterattack, but it was the only time Wood really failed in the series, and even then he showed the fight that exemplified his tour-long efforts to bounce back and take three fields. to help finish the entries early the next day.
That explosion and his six-wicket run in the second inning largely came from hitting the ball short. It’s a tactic England – including Wood – have used with, to put it mildly, limited success of late.
But at Hobart, Wood got it right, combining speed, ferocity and accuracy, and was able to fire off front-row batsmen like Smith, Usman Khawaja and Travis Head, as well as unsettle and subsequently clean up the queue, something England have had problems. with in recent times.
At 32, it’s hard to imagine Wood being around when England’s red ball team visit Australia in four years’ time, but perhaps this is one example where his injuries could have worked to his advantage.
The fast bowler has played just 25 Tests and 66 first-class games in total, so he doesn’t have the same number of leg overs as others at his age. As long as he can stay away from injury, could he continue like this for much longer?
That remains to be seen, but what is clear is that Wood is showing no signs of slowing down any time soon, he is bowling as fast as ever and kept his pace on numerous spells throughout the series in Australia.
The next step for the England test team is a three-match series in the Caribbean. Pitches have tended to be incredibly slow or fast and bouncy. Either way, Wood is a must.
Then comes summer at home. To date, Wood’s success has tended to come away from home (three tests out of five for, all abroad), but he showed at The Ashes that he can have an impact on the kind of nibbling surfaces that are likely to be offered at home. England.
With neither Archer nor Stone likely to be available for a while, home or away, a fit and fit Mark Wood can only be good news for England.
Proof that not everything that happened in The Ashes was bad, English fans. Just the overwhelming majority.
