THE PACEMAN HOPING TO BE A PERFECT FIT
Wood has the suit, now for Test spot
MARK WOOD spent a day this week donning his newly arrived England suit. ‘I wore it around the house a bit too much really but I was absolutely buzzing just to have it on.
‘Trying it on is when the mixture of nerves and excitement started,’ says Wood, one of the uncapped members of Alastair Cook’s squad who fly to the Caribbean today for a three-Test series against West Indies.
The 25-year-old would be forgiven for checking the fit, because standing at 5ft 11in and weighing just over 12st, he is not the shape or size of your traditional fast bowler.
But England are looking for something different in the wake of their woeful World Cup and Wood, whose ability to hurry batsmen from a short run-up is reminiscent of Craig White and Simon Jones from previous eras, fits the bill. Several players on the county circuit last season would testify that he was the slipperiest bowler they faced.
‘I can hit 90mph but it’s not something I tend to concentrate on,’ said Wood. ‘The quickest ball I have been clocked at on the telly was 91 but I am sure I can bowl quicker than that.
‘You know yourself, without the speed guns, when it’s coming out lovely and the rhythm’s there.
‘When I bowl I am not just trying to blast people out, I would like to think that being the slight lad that I am with a short run-up, it is more the surprise element that gets batters in trouble. I tend to rush them a little bit but would like to think I have more skills than just raw pace.’
Primary among those skills is a mastery of reverse swing. It was no coincidence that his first three County Championship appearances for Durham all came at Trent Bridge, where the abrasive nature of the square roughs the ball up perfectly for exponents of the art.
But he has also displayed a marked improvement in his use of the new ball, swinging it to good effect whenever he got it during the 2014 season. Previously, he faced a battle to prise it from the hands of his Durham team-mates Graham Onions and Chris Rushworth.
So a marker of his progress was provided at the turn of this year when he was opening the bowling for England Lions on the tour of South Africa.
That breakthrough moment on the field has been replicated off it, with Wood’s devotion to the ECB’s fitness regime enabling him to play a string of matches following a career punctuated by injuries, including stress fractures of the back, a cyst on his left ankle, knee trouble and side strains.
‘My body type has changed a lot since I was the lad who broke through into the first team,’ he said. ‘I have done two winters now where they have basically pumped us up in the gym to get us stronger and fitter.
‘ I did a four- week camp in Potchefstroom, South Africa, before Christmas when I was smashing myself along with the other fast bowlers. That got me the Lions call-up and off that, maintaining that strength, got me the Test call-up.’
His first-class haul of 74 wickets ets at 26 runs apiece is creditable even if his number of appearances, 23, is a bit thin.
But as he showed in taking four Australia A wickets in as many overs in a Durham win at Chester- le- Street three years ago, he has the knack of getting good players out. It may help him sneak ahead of Liam Plunkett or Chris Jordan in the pace pecking order.
‘I am not going to the West Indies to make the numbers up. I want to play a Test match, , whether it be the first, middlee or last one,’ he said.
‘It’s a good opportunity. As an n England fan it has been n frustrating to watch during the e winter but everyone will agreee that to put things right we have e to start in the Caribbean.’
It was for the carnage created at Sabina Park, Jamaica, that Steve Harmison, another cricketing son of Ashington, was renamed Grievous Bodily Harmison 11 years ago. ‘ There’s no pressure on us, is there?’ said Wood. ‘The last lad from Ashington took seven for 12. But if I get half of that I will be doing all right. Steve’s a family friend so he’s offered me advice on what the pitches will be like and how I should go about things. The main thing he told me is that the stumps don’t move — we had a bit of a joke about that because of the ball he bowled in Brisbane (the first delivery of the 2006-07 Ashes, which went straight to Andrew Flintoff at second slip) — his point being that if you make sure you get the first one on target you’ll be fine after that.’
They are big shoes to fill but Wood appears comfortable in his own.