The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Wood wows as Windies rocked for the first time
Mark Wood ended England’s long wait for a bowler capable of blistering pace, breaching 94mph during an exhilarating career-best haul on day two of the third West Indies Test yesterday.
Wood was a bowler reborn on his Test comeback, regularly hitting breakneck speeds as he claimed five for 41 and had the home batsmen running for cover for the first time this series.
The 29-year-old did the heavy lifting as England bowled the Windies out for 154 and ended their best day of a torrid tour 142 ahead with Keaton Jennings and Rory Burns reaching 19 without loss.
Recalling the velocity and hostility of fellow Ashington boy Steve Harmison, whose careerbest seven for 12 came in Jamaica 15 years ago, Wood finally proved he can be the man to bring true venom to the English attack.
The Durham seamer’s first 12 Tests, the last of which came nine months ago, brought 30 wickets at a modest average of 41.73, but over the course of 8.2 beguiling overs he began a new chapter that could propel him into a starring role in the summer’s World Cup/Ashes double header.
Wood told Sky Sports: “It feels fantastic – all the hard times I’ve had with injury, and the self doubt, today I felt like an England player.
“I have had some bad times. There were times where I was desperate to do well but it wasn’t quite happening for me. I am here on merit not potential.”
Windies wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich admitted Wood made a difference to England.
He said: “I think we’ve missed an opportunity to capitalise on a good pitch.
“Mark Woody came in and made a difference – it was a decent spell and he was sharp – but there were some soft dismissals in there as well.”
England had started the day poorly, failing to reach 300 for the sixth innings in a row despite resuming on 231 for four.
Jos Buttler was first man down, bowled through the gate by Gabriel having failed to add to his overnight 67.
Kemar Roach did the bulk of the damage again, with four wickets taking his series haul to 17 at 12.05.
He started with topscorer Ben Stokes for 79 – wicketkeeper Dowrich sprinting to square leg and diving to grab a mishit pull – and scattered Jonny Bairstow’s stumps off the inside edge.
Roach wrapped things up by bouncing out Wood and Anderson in the same over, an image Wood possibly stored away from his later involvement.
Sam Hain and Ollie Pope both made halfcenturies to help England Lions to a draw in their first unofficial Test against India A at the Krishnagiri Stadium in Wayanad.