I want more than white ball role – Wood
ENGLAND bowler Mark Wood accepts he may have to “wait my turn” to resume his Test career but has no intention of settling into life as a white-ball specialist.
Wood has not played since March due to an elbow injury but is part of England’s touring party in Karachi, where England begin a seven-match Twenty20 series against Pakistan on Tuesday.
He is hoping to play a major role at next month’s T20 World Cup in Australia too, a workload that makes the subsequent Test series in Pakistan look a long shot.
Wood was England’s top performer in last winter’s Ashes but, at 32, and with a body that has been put through the ringer by the rigours of 90mph bowling, it would not be a complete surprise if he chose to pursue a lessdemanding, highly-lucrative schedule in short-form cricket.
But, despite penning a new book, ‘The Wood Life’ - part autobiography, part tongue-in-cheek self-help manual - he is not ready to close the chapter on his red-ball ambitions. That day will come, eventually, but I’m not there yet,” he told the PA news agency.
“I still want to play Test cricket and play for as long as I can. It was always my dream as a kid, to play for England as many times as I could.
“When England don’t need me any more, or if my injuries get so bad that I can’t perform to the level I want, then I’ll look elsewhere and maybe think about a different path. But right now I’m very England focused and I want to play as many games as I can and win things for this team.
“The Test team have had a great summer, they’re winning games, playing entertaining cricket and I can’t believe how relaxed the environment is under Ben Stokes and Brendon Mccullum.
“It’s been fantastic and something I would love to be a part of, but I know I’m going to have to wait my turn because they’ve done so well. There’s a long list of bowlers trying to get in that side and I’m one of them. I’d love to play for Stokesy.”