BANGLAFRESH

Wood must wait until Australia showdown to unleash his firepower

ENGLAND will keep Mark Wood on ice in readiness for the Aussies and stick to plan A for their first ever T20 clash with Bangladesh.

The superquick bowler missed the opener against the West Indies with an ankle niggle and head coach Chris Silverwood suggested he would be back for game two.

But that now looks to be pushed back to game three and a clash with Australia, who will have to find ways to cope with Wood’s extra pace during the Ashes.

Even without the latest Ashington express, England are confident they will be able to keep up their strong record against Bangladesh from other formats. The Tigers have won just one Test and four ODIS against England in 31 attempts, and after having to qualify for this stage of the tournament before losing to Sri Lanka in their first match (above Nural Hasan appeals unsuccessfully for the caught behind of Charith Asalanka), a win over Eoin Morgan’s team would be a huge upset.

“I think the side is balanced well whichever route we go down,” said vice captain Jos Buttler (left). “Woody is one of those guys with express pace and we know what a factor he can play in matches when fully fit.

“Of course we want to pick from a full-strength squad so Chris Silverwood and Morgs can pick the side they best see for the conditions.

“We are always focused on the next game and what it demands. If the conditions are drastically different we wouldn’t be afraid to play a different team. “I think we had most bases covered from the side we picked in the first match, and I can’t see conditions being too different from the first game.”

England benefited from the skills of their spinners Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid against West Indies and can expect their own trial by spin against Bangladesh.

It is an area where England have become increasingly good in white-ball cricket in recent years, but they are still prone to the odd mishap.

And with Bangladesh opening their bowling with two spinners, it is a challenge Buttler and Jason Roy in particular will have to meet head on. We know the challenges they will pose, they are a spin-heavy side,” added Buttler. “We’ve played against them a lot in 50-over cricket and they can be dangerous.

“Spin is something we’ll see throughout this tournament. It’s been a prevalent part of the powerplay, and the challenge of the ball spinning away from the bat is a good matchup. Obviously with the new ball some can skid on with the angle, so I’m just trying to be really clinical picking length and trying to be positive with that option.”