BATTERING RAM AND SLEDGER* SUPREME
Armed and dangerous with a pink ball, 95mph Wood is raring to go in India
MARK WOOD has grown from “choo-choo” to the bullet train who hopes to put England back on the right track in India next week.
Armed with a pink ball, 95mph Wood will send Joe Root’s team back to the fuchsia under Ahmedabad’s floodlights in the day-night third Test.
The Durham pace bowler honed his sledging skills – in the snowy north-east – during his 10 days of prescribed rest back home.
And Wood, 31, reinforced his commitment to England by withdrawing from Thursday’s Indian Premier League auction to prioritise quality time with his family amid a punishing international schedule in 2021 before rejoining the squad.
Wood is pushing for a recall at the refurbished 110,000-seater Sardar Patel Stadium, where some fans will be admitted.
As England’s fastest bowler, Wood is an attacking option with any colour ball – red, white or pink – and he said: “My job is to take wickets and the captain has used me as a bit of a battering ram.
“In my last game in Sri Lanka, I bowled a few longer spells but whatever the team needs at one end, I’ll be the best I can to help the guy at the other.
“One of our policies as a team is for the bowlers to work as partnerships and that’s vitally important on the subcontinent when it’s hot.
“You get tired and there’s not a lot happening then you help the guy at the other end.”
“Battering ram was not something I got labelled with in my younger days – we had Harmy (Steve Harmison) as the Ashington Express and I was his junior, the Ashington choo-choo train.
“It’s not quite the same here as snowy Durham, but it’s nice to get back on the grass and start building things up again.
“My sledging skills are now top-drawer because of all the snow we had back home, so things have changed a little bit and quarantine wasn’t that bad. We’re looked after really well in a nice hotel, and you only have to look out of your window to realise it’s pretty hard elsewhere.
“I just have to ring my grandad and he tells me what hard yakka it was down the pit, so that puts things in perspective.”
On his decision to forsake IPL riches to focus on possible Test and World T20 glory in India ahead of next winter’s Ashes, Wood was refreshingly principled.
He added: “Obviously there have been big names going to the IPL for big money and it’s great for them.
“It’s life-changing money, which is why it was such a difficult decision for me.
“The plus side is you’re not just going for money reasons – you will hopefully improve your skills going into the World T20, and I’ve got a bit of unfinished business with the Indian Premier League.
“I only played one game for Chennai last time and I’d like another crack at some point.
“But I just didn’t think the time was right. For me, it was about prioritising my family and England at the minute.”
* NOT ABUSING OTHER PLAYERS, BUT REAL SLEDGING IN THE SNOWY NORTH-EAST