BREAKTHROUGH TIME FOR WOOD
MARK WOOD says he is relishing being Eoin Morgan’s partnership breaker and is hoping his hold over the bigname players continues to the final on Sunday.
The fast bowler has become his captain’s first port of call when in need of a wrecking ball, often breaking ominous partnerships just when England have begun to flag.
Against New Zealand, Wood bagged Kane Williamson when the Kiwis were 158-2, and against Australia, David Warner, Steve Smith (at 181-3) and Glenn Maxwell (at 239-4), each time when Australia were threatening to get away.
With England now one game away from a global 50-overs final on home turf, Wood is hoping he will not let down his skipper when the ball comes his way in tomorrow’s semifinal against Pakistan.
“It’s a nice feeling to have the confidence of the captain – sub-consciously I don’t know if it makes me try a little bit harder, but at the moment I seem to be getting some of the best players out,” he said.
“You lift up, push your shoulders back, puff your chest out a little bit, you feel like the captain really needs you and you want to be the man who changes the game, and that’s what I’ve tried to do.
“It’s a nice knack to have and hopefully I can keep it up.”
Wood has stepped up in the absence of Chris Woakes – who suffered a side strain in the group opener against Bangladesh – shining brightest in the victory over Australia, with 4-33.
But he will empathise more than most with his injured colleague given his own injury nightmare since he bowled the ball that won the Ashes at Trent Bridge in 2015.
Three ankle operations inside a year, finally and most worryingly in October last year, left the 27-year-old wondering whether he would play for England again.
When he was ready to come back after a camp in South Africa, his momentum was checked by a groin injury playing for Durham.
But after a successful return against Ireland, Wood gathered momentum against South Africa and has hit peak form just at the right time.
That run has left Wood dreaming of a possible first Test match appearance since October 2015 and beyond that, making the Ashes squad this winter.
He said: “My body is holding up really well and the backroom staff have been fantastic since I’ve come back into the set-up. They roll me in Sellotape and wrap me in bubble-wrap between games, and hopefully I’ll be ready for the semi-final.”
His recent medical history ensures Wood is keeping his focus on the next game rather than thinking too far ahead.
“If Woakesy misses out [on the start of the Test summer] hopefully my name will be in the hat. Beyond that, I am thinking about the Ashes – of course I am,” he said.
“If I can do well in a whiteball tournament like this, then back it up by being consistent with the red ball I’d love to get back in the Test team later in the year.”
Before that there is the small matter of securing passage to the Champions Trophy final on Sunday.
Wood pinpointed his crossseam deliveries as a key tactic – it was one such ball which caught Williamson by surprise in Cardiff, spitting off the pitch with extra bounce to induce an edge to Jos Buttler. “That has been the most effective ball in the tournament so far and you just have to get something out of the pitch,” said Wood.
“But we definitely take confidence from the first game there and the place has been good for us. We know the conditions and dimensions of the ground and we always feel like we are going to do well .
“We’ve got one hell of a team here and I love being part of it.”