Wood is putting wins as priority

Mark Wood has won plenty of praise for his whole-hearted performances in the Ashes, but the England quick is desperate to turn that fanfare into the things that matter: “wickets and wins”.

Australia has taken a shine to Wood over the last few weeks, with his ability to repeatedly clear the 90mph barrier and land vital blows for a cricket side who have been mostly outclassed seeing his stock soar.

His bare numbers tell only half of the story – eight wickets at 37.62 – but the identity of his victims does the rest. Wood has dismissed Marnus Labuschagne three times in 17 balls since he became the World’s No 1 batter and has also got the best of key men Steve Smith and David Warner.

But he is not content to console himself with the warm words of pundits and a few magnanimous cheers from the home fans.

When he lines up in Hobart today for a day/ night Test, he is looking for tangible rewards.

“Personally I am pleased with my effort, but when you’re playing for England effort should be a given,” he said.

“You should be giving everything you’ve got every time. I’ve given 100%. This is one last big push for me to try and keep my speeds up and offer that to the team.

“I want to raise my game and prove myself against the best players. It’s always special when you get a big wickets – Smith, Warner, Marnus – they are top players.”

England are set to hand a debut to Kent wicketkeeper Sam Billings, called up as cover for the injured Jos Buttler, and are also likely to recall Rory Burns in place of the drastically out-of-form Haseeb Hameed.

Bowlers Ollie Robinson and Chris Woakes are poised to return in place of spinner Jack Leach and veteran James Anderson.