MARK WOOD: I’LL BE OUR MITCHELL JOHNSON
England 95mph ace wants to put wind up the Windies
Mark Wood wants to get inside the heads of the West Indies batsmen — just like Mitchell Johnson did with England after his destructive performance in the 2013-14 ashes.
Wood took five for 41 when England and West Indies last met, in St Lucia in February 2019, clocking nearly 95mph in one of the fastest spells by an English bowler in years. and he’s hoping the impression he made in that game will endure into next month’s Test series.
‘Before the 2015 ashes we had a big chat about Mitchell Johnson, so it’s quite nice to think West Indies might do that about me,’ he says. ‘It would be nice if they’re having those thoughts.
‘It proves they rate me as a cricketer and they are concerned about what I could bring. That was probably the quickest I’ve bowled. I felt in a great place, mentally and physically, and I still look back on that performance with fond memories. It does give me confidence knowing I’ve done well against them. That’s what I’ll be trying to do again.’
Wood remains an integral part of England’s pace unit, even if he won’t necessarily start the three-Test series in Southampton on July 8 because of the claims of Jimmy anderson, Stuart Broad, Jofra archer and Chris Woakes — not to mention Ben Stokes.
But figures of nine for 100 at Johannesburg as England sealed a 3-1 win over South africa in January confirmed Wood’s value. Since lengthening his run-up ahead of that Caribbean tour, he has taken 18 wickets in three Tests at just 14 apiece. ‘I wish I’d changed my run-up sooner,’ he says. ‘That was a big change. and that one five-wicket haul gave me a massive boost.
‘It calmed me down and meant I wasn’t trying too hard. I had the belief before but I was frustrated I had not showed people how good I could be.’
Now Wood, 30, who has joined England’s biosecure bubble at Hampshire’s ageas Bowl, wants to team up with archer for the first time in Test cricket and resurrect the partnership that helped win last summer’s World Cup.
‘I cannot speak for Jofra but I definitely want to be quicker than him and I’m sure he wants to be quicker than me,’ says Wood. ‘during the World Cup he joked that they were putting my speeds up higher deliberately. Now I want to bowl fast all the time to prove I can bowl as fast as Jofra. If we were to play together it would be exciting.’
Meanwhile, Wood — who has been supporting children to get active as part of Yorkshire Tea National Cricket Week — expressed his concerns over the Government’s apparent reluctance to sanction the return of the recreational game after Prime Minister Boris Johnson described the ball as a ‘natural vector of disease’.
‘It is disappointing to hear that,’ he says. ‘Clubs across the country are desperate for some cricket, just to keep them alive.
‘Safety first is paramount but you just feel that with pubs and restaurants opening I don’t see how cricket is so far away from that. Being a non-contact sport, there must be something they can do around the ball at grassroots level because we don’t want to miss out on the next Ben Stokes, Joe root, Jos Buttler, Jofra archer.
‘It is important we get as many people involved in the game as we can. You don’t want to lose potential cricketers to other sports.’
Yorkshire Tea National Cricket Week works with the charity Chance to Shine to support and grow the grassroots of the game in schools and communities. Join in at www.chancetoshine.org/ncw20