Wood blow won’t stop Joe living the dream

ENGLAND have been dealt yet another injury blow with the loss of Mark Wood for the third Test against India but captain Joe Root insists he has no problem staying upbeat because he is ‘a cricket tragic’.

Root’s latest Headingley homecoming tomorrow comes against a trying backdrop of going 1-0 down in the five-match series with a demoralising last-day defeat at Lord’s and the news Wood has joined the long list of sidelined seamers.

The fast bowler has been ruled out after damaging his shoulder at Lord’s, colliding with an advertising board while sliding to save a boundary, and joins Stuart Broad, Jofra Archer, Chris Woakes and Olly Stone in the treatment room.

With Ben Stokes on hiatus and unavailable for a return to the scene of his most remarkable Test innings, against Australia in 2019, Root would be forgiven for allowing the pressure to get on top of him.

But he has been in stellar form with the bat and has no intention of letting difficult circumstances crush his enthusiasm this week.

‘I’m playing for England and I’m playing Test cricket. It’s quite easy to stay positive in that respect. I’m living my boyhood dream,’ he said.

‘I’m constantly trying to remind myself of that as well, when we are having the odd tough day or things aren’t always going our way.

‘When I was ten years old I couldn’t think of anything else I wanted to do.

‘Living that boyhood dream is one way you can keep motivating yourself to front up to the next challenge and the next day. I’m a cricket tragic at heart. I love the game, I love batting. Every opportunity to do that I’ll try and take.’

England are expected to make two changes to the team from Lord’s.

Dom Sibley has been dropped after a dearth of runs this year, with Haseeb Hameed slated to move up to open the batting and the recalled Dawid Malan slotting in at No.3. Meanwhile, Craig Overton is the current favourite to take over from Wood (below), having spent much of the summer travelling and training with the squad, but Saqib Mahmood is pushing for a debut having impressed with Eoin Morgan’s white-ball side.

‘The news is frustrating trating for Mark and for us as a side, because I thought he bowled really well at Lord’s,’ said Root.

‘He gives us a real point of difference, added pace.

‘We just have to deal with and it will provide an opportunity for someone else to step up.’

THEY SAID IT

‘I think Dawid will offer us a lot of experience in that top three. You can look back at a number of things, like selection, and with hindsight everything can look very different. But he is a fine player who has had to deal with a number of different pressures throughout his career and he has come through swimmingly.’ Joe Root backs Dawid Malan (above) to be the answer to England’s faltering top order, pointing out the 33-year-old was England’s top runscorer in the 2017/18 Ashes series