‘I almost gave up red-ball cricket’: Wood considered retiring from Tests after injury-ravaged summer

Mark Wood has admitted he almost gave up red-ball cricket during an injury-wrecked summer but changed his mind because he wanted to sample life under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum.

England’s fast-bowling hero in the second Test against Pakistan, who took three of the last five wickets to help seal a thrilling, series-clinching win at Multan, had elbow surgery after England’s first Test in the West Indies in March. He then had another operation in order to be fit for the T20s in Pakistan in September.

In between, he did not bowl a ball in anger, prompting thoughts of going down the white-ball route after an on-off career in which, before this series, he had played only 26 of England’s 100 Tests since his debut in 2015.

As Wood, who turns 33 next month, broke open Pakistan’s courageous run-chase on Monday, having Mohammad Nawaz and Saud Shakeel caught down the leg side before lunch, then bowling Zahid Mahmood after it, England were grateful their fastest bowler decided to give Test cricket another go.

Asked if he had wondered during the summer whether days like this might never come again, he replied: ‘Yes, I wondered if I’d go white-ball only. At some point, my body will say it’s the way to go. But I didn’t prepare for white-ball — I prepared for all cricket.

‘I desperately wanted to experience all this, with Stokesy and Brendon, so I’m pleased I’ve stuck with it. And I’m pleased we won here. I’d have been gutted if I’d come in and we’d lost. They’d have pointed fingers at me.’

The 33-year-old has known Ben Stokes since their days together in the Durham academy

Wood broke 97mph at Multan, underlining his value to a side who have often struggled abroad because of a lack of cutting edge. Unlike most of his compatriots, he has a better record abroad, where he has 53 Test wickets at 24 apiece, than at home, where his 35 wickets have cost 40.

He said Shoaib Akhtar, the former Pakistan fast bowler, had told him he needed to ‘pull trucks’ if he wanted to bowl 100mph. ‘He doesn’t know how weak I am,’ said Wood. ‘I can’t pull any truck. But it’s great to replicate someone like that. The crowd have been amazing, they love fast bowling in Pakistan off the back of guys like Shoaib.’

And when Stokes needed a breakthrough before lunch on the fourth and final day, it was to Wood that he turned. The captain’s response when he bent his back to remove Nawaz for 45 said it all. 

‘He said, “You can have a big bear hug for that”,’ said Wood. ‘Those were his exact words. He asked me to change the game and he was very pleased I did. I kept saying, “Do you not fancy a go?” And he kept saying, “No, you do the work”.

Wood had two operations before playing in the T20 World Cup and Test series in Pakistan

‘I only bowled four overs in a go from September to now, so it is a big spike and hard work on these pitches, but I tried to prepare as best I could.’

Wood has known Stokes since their days together in the Durham academy, and has been blown away by the speed with which he has grown into the captaincy.

‘It’s weird, Stokesy is much more mature now, he speaks so well. He’s always had a fantastic cricket brain. But the way he comes across, the way he conducts himself and the messages that he gives, he’s just so much more rounded now.

‘He was this alpha guy who would whack it, and never back down. He’s still got all that, but he’s got other sides to him now. He’ll put an arm round people, and express what he means really articulately.

The paceman (right) was part of England’s T20 World Cup winning side in September

‘I didn’t think he had some of the words in his locker!’

Meanwhile, the pitch for the first Test at Rawalpindi has been rated ‘below average’ by ICC match referee Andy Pycroft. The game, which England won by 74 runs with only minutes to spare, produced 1,768 runs — a world record for a five-day Test.

Pycroft said the surface ‘gave no assistance to any type of bowler’, and docked the venue one demerit point, to go with the point it earned in March, when Pakistan and Australia played out a bore draw. Five points in any five-year period means a ban from hosting international cricket for 12 months.