After sitting out the first two matches, Mark Wood announced himself in this series by unleashing a dozen whirlwind overs on the opening day of the third Test, taking five wickets along the way – and the really good news for England is that he thinks he can get quicker. Not since Brett Lee in 2005 has any bowler registered a faster average speed across an innings than Wood did in marking 90.5mph – with a top speed of 96.5mph – at Headingley.
“Leading into the game I felt I was in a really good rhythm. I was ready to go and chomping at the bit,” Wood said. “I haven’t done that well in this country so there were a few nerves flying around. I’ve felt for a while I have a point to prove here, all my good stuff has happened away from home, so to be able to finally do it here was a massive relief. That first spell in particular, that’s as good as I’ve felt at home in an England shirt.”
Wood had already claimed Test five-fers in Australia, West Indies and South Africa, but this was his first on home soil. Ollie Robinson came off with a back spasm but Chris Woakes and Stuart Broad took the remaining wickets as Australia were bowled out for 263. Mitchell Marsh, another player making his first appearance of the series, scored 118 of them but once he was removed Wood stepped back in, ripping through Australia’s tail by taking the last four wickets for five runs in 16 balls.
“His knock was pretty special,” Wood said of Marsh. “On a wicket that was pretty tough, he made us feel as a bowling group that things had completely changed – the ball was soft, the wicket had gone flat. We’ll have to come up with a way of combatting that in the second innings because he was really impressive.”
Marsh replaced Cameron Green, who was ruled out with a minor hamstring injury, to make his first Test appearance since the 2019 Ashes, and to score his first century since the 2017-18 series – he has never reached triple figures against anyone else. “I’ve done a lot of work on the mental side of my game,” Marsh said. “People always talk about going out and playing your natural game, which in the Test cauldron isn’t always easy. Today was as natural as it gets for me. My technique’s not perfect but I know when I move well enough and make good decisions that I can keep the good balls out, and outside of that I’m going to play my shots. I got rewarded for that today.”
He also benefited from being dropped by Joe Root at first slip when he was on 12, one of a series of fumbles from England in the field. The hosts were 68 for three at stumps, still 195 behind, with Root and Jonny Bairstow, who between them put four chances down, looking to make amends with the bat. “We as a group don’t feel they need to do that,” Wood said. “They work really hard in training. We see that work they put in. Of course it’s disappointing when catches go down but it can’t be helped – as soon as they go down, you move on.”
Having put himself through just three short spells, Wood hopes to go at least as fast when he gets to bowl again. “I think the last couple of years has proved I can go quicker,” Wood said. “From a body point of view to be able to bowl just 12 overs, that hopefully stands us in good stead for the second innings. It’s not easy coming off the back of no bowling, but at the same time it’s a fine margin with me because if I bowl a lot I could get injured. So I’ve come in fresh and it’s been a good day but I don’t want to get ahead of myself – I’ve got to prove it again because the series is on the line.”
Wood admitted “the last few weeks have been difficult”, after he was left out of the first Test despite being fully fit, and missed the second because of minor swelling on his troublesome elbow. “I’d love to have played earlier but I can’t help that, I can’t affect that,” he said. “I’m not frustrated, it’s just the way that it was. The only thing I can do now is try to contribute to the rest.”
