A free-spirited, light-hearted character, Mark Wood could bring some enthusiasm – and genuine pace – to the England side if he debuts at Lord’s.
Andrew McGlashan20-May-20150:38
Jordan pleased with ‘healthy competition’
There have been a few firsts for Mark Wood in the last couple of months. A first England tour, a first international appearance and a first international wicket. There could be a couple more on Thursday: a first Test cap and a first match at Lord’s.For an English cricketer the latter is something of a surprise – your first Lord’s appearance coming for England – although Wood’s domestic career has not been vast so far: 24 first-class matches, 18 List A games and nine T20s. He will, by English standards, be a reasonably inexperienced Test debutant should be become No. 667 to represent his country – the honour, perhaps a dubious one, of being No. 666 will be Adam Lyth’s.So far, Wood’s experiences of Lord’s have been as a drinks carrier for Durham. He joked, during a very relaxed press conference, that it was a role he was accustomed to – a nod to his largely non-playing role in West Indies.”I haven’t played here before, for Durham or anything, so I’m really excited,” he said. “The whole feel of the place is not something I can explain to anyone.”I’ve been here twice as 12th man with Durham. As you all know, I’m used to running drinks, and I’ve enjoyed running them here before. I hope this time I’m here to play – third time lucky.”There is a very good chance it will be third time lucky with Wood favoured to replace Chris Jordan in the starting XI as England search for a cutting edge to their attack. It was clear in the Caribbean that James Anderson was shouldering a dangerously high burden when it came to Alastair Cook needing breakthroughs. It was not that Jordan, and to a lesser extent Ben Stokes, bowled poorly, but wickets were hard to come by.The issue of variety is also something England need to consider and while Wood is another right-armer (for New Zealand, left-armers appear to grow on trees) he is one of the quickest bowlers available at the moment – he nudged towards 90mph on a slow pitch in Dublin during the rain-ruined ODI against Ireland – and is also known as someone who can exploit reverse swing.”Height-wise I’m not as tall as the others, a bit more skiddy, so many I can bring a different dimension to the attack and a bit of enthusiasm around the dressing room,” he said.It was notable that he mentioned enthusiasm in the dressing room. He certainly comes across as a free-spirited, light-hearted character. A cynic may wonder how long until that is snubbed out by the England set-up, but it must be hoped that, as part of building a future, the team moves away from identikit cricketers.Wood’s approach was summed up when he was asked about the potential challenges of bowling in the middle at Lord’s for the first time, with the slope to contend with which has proved a handful for many in the past. “At the end of the day the stumps don’t move, I’ll just try to bowl with good pace and, if I play, try and knock the Kiwis over.”He also has an individual style to his run-up, something he likens to a “sprinter’s start” when he begins as though pushing off the blocks. Again, the Loughborough academy set-up, and its desire to tinker, lurks but Wood is very comfortable in his own skin.”It’s something I did when I was 18 or 19, I used to have a really long run-up and the academy coach at Durham, John Windows, wanted me to change it slightly to be a little more efficient and explosive. It’s worked well since then so I will keep doing it.”Wood is the latest paceman from the impressive Durham system to reach international level following Simon Brown, Steve Harmison, Liam Plunkett, Graham Onions and allrounder Stokes, while Mark Davies was also briefly an England tourist.Is there any secret to the county’s success? “We’re used to hard work, I guess, working-class people and all that,” Wood joked before making a serious point about the pitches and a large catchment area which takes in Durham, Northumberland and Cumbria.One of those former Durham quicks is a close friend of Wood’s and remains an inspiration. Harmison hails from the same Ashington village and Wood remembers the days when he was in awe of his fellow fast bowler. The height of that feeling came, appropriately with the 10-year anniversary this summer, during the 2005 Ashes. It is significant that at a time when one of the major challenges for English cricket is winning back public appeal that both Wood, and Jos Buttler who was sat alongside him, picked out 2005 as inspirations in their careers.”I looked up to him massively, he was a family friend – his uncle and my dad were best friends growing up – and he used to come round the local cricket club and I used to be a bit in awe,” Wood said of Harmison. “2005 was probably the greatest Test series I have ever watched, so to see someone I knew do well was great see and he’s still someone I look up to now and go to for advice.”He just said go and enjoy yourself, express yourself. He was someone viewed as being homesick or nervous so it was quite good to hear that from him.”This is, of course, the beginning of another Ashes summer. It is unlikely that English cricket can ever recapture those heady days of 2005, but if Wood can make a mark in this series against New Zealand he will have gone a long way to securing his ticket to face Australia. And the early signs are that he would provide some fun along the way.
