Wood in a struggle for Durham

England fast bowler Mark Wood was upstaged on his Durham return by a strong Derbyshire batting display on the opening day of their Specsavers County Championship Division Two match at Derby.

Wood bowled 14 overs yesterday but failed to take a wicket in the last round of first-class matches before England’s first Test against Pakistan in two weeks’ time as Derbyshire closed on 301-4 after bad light ended play early.

Wayne Madsen passed 9,000 first-class runs for Derbyshire during his unbeaten 80, sharing a century stand with Billy Godleman, who made 61, while Ben Slater scored 55 with James Weighell taking two wickets.

Not surprisingly Wood took the new ball after Durham opted to bowl first on a cool, blustery day and he was hit for two fours by Slater in his first over.

His next four overs went for only 12 runs but, although he did get some swing, he could not make the early breakthrough Durham hoped for.

Former Derbyshire seamer Nathan Rimmington also got some movement, but Durham’s bowling lacked the consistency to exert pressure and by the time Wood returned for a three-over second spell before lunch, both Slater and Luis Reece were established.

Reece needed lengthy treatment following a blow on the left hand from Weighell, who put Durham back in the game as Derbyshire lost three wickets in six overs after the interval.

Three fours from a Matt Dixon over got Godleman going and he reached his 50 with a rasping square cut to the boundary off Wood.

The stand with Madsen was worth 114 in 32 overs when Godleman was lbw to a full length ball from Dixon.