mark wood has dashed his hopes of featuring in England’s bid to regain the Ashes this summer, suggesting he is unlikely to play more than two or three of the five Tests against Australia.
Wood was England’s leading wicket-taker and best bowler during their 4-0 defeat on tour 2021/22 but has played only three Tests since due to injuries and the ECB’s attempts to manage his workload this winter .
Ben Stokes has expressed his desire to have eight fit fast bowlers available for selection for the first Test at Edgbaston on 16 June, but Wood suggested that, fitness permitting, “10 to 12 line up” Can, saying that he expected the series to be “a group effort”.
England took five frontline seamers – James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Ollie Robinson, Matthew Potts and Ollie Stone – to New Zealand last month, while there are five more with Test caps for the ongoing white-ball tour of Bangladesh: Jofra Archer, Sam Curran, Saqib Mahmood, Chris Woakes and Wood himself.
“I certainly won’t play all five [Ashes Tests]Speaking to the touring media in Chattogram, Wood said, “I was happy to have played four out of five matches in Australia. I was broken, wasted, tired. [but] I had a big tick in my box to say that in a big series, I can do it, if Stokes or Baz [McCullum] i want to play
“More likely, with the bowling stock we have, especially at home, I might not even play four. They may want me for one or two as well, if they need the pace element. [Stokes] Might want to mix it up to keep people fresh, but if people are playing well, I can’t play any.
“I doubt very much, the way they’ve managed me, [that I will play] Four. If they want three or four, I’ll put my hand up.”
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Along with Harry Brooke, Wood was one of two England players involved in all three of the T20I tour of Pakistan, the T20 World Cup and the Test tour of Pakistan, and took a two-month break before the tour of Bangladesh to give them Was. A chance to recharge mentally and physically.
Wood said of their holiday, “It was lovely, to be honest.” “It was really nice to be able to spend time at home and not think about cricket for a bit. It made us hungry when I came back.”
“It sits really well with me. There have been times in the past that I shouldn’t have played and I have. After taking it off my hands, saying ‘gear up for this one,’ you Can fully focus on your mind and body.” ,
“The break has helped me to have a bit more time than in previous years when I tried to play everything. I would never turn down the chance to play for England: if they want me I’ll be there and I’ll try my best.” But if they decide to let us rest, I get it and [will be] Preparing for the next.”
After this tour, he will play for Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL before the start of the Ashes in June. The Hundred comes in August, building up to England’s white-ball fixtures in September and the 50-over World Cup in India in October-November. His wife Sarah is also expecting a daughter at the end of May.
“With my record, I can get [through] Two of them,” Wood joked, “so it would be nice to have that time off early in the year. I think it’s difficult for some of the multi-format players to juggle, but Rob’s very good at saying, ‘Look, I think we’ll give you a little bit off there and then fly over here.’
“I’ve done interviews in the past where I’ve said, ‘Of course I’m thinking about the Ashes in the background’ [but] I’m not really. There’s a lot going on before: we have this, T20s, IPL and then the Ashes. I’ve had my daughter in the middle of that so it’s going to be a big time, I’m not really looking too far ahead.”