SA v ENG 2020: Jofra Archer and Chris Woakes are ahead of me in pecking order, says Mark Wood

Wood has also put his 'name is the hat' for third Test.

Wood is nearing full fitness | Getty Images

England pace bowler Mark Wood has not played cricket since helping England to win the maiden World Cup almost six months ago at home due to knee injury, but the seamer has now declared himself fit for the national selection ahead of the third Test against South Africa.

Wood was England's second-best bowler at the World Cup 2019 with 18 wickets in 10 matches, but knee surgery has kept him out of the action since the final at Lord’s.

The 30-year-old is part of England’s squad for the South Africa Tests but didn’t feature in the first two Tests, as he is yet to attain 100 percent fitness but feels he is ready for the third Test in Port Elizabeth starting from January 16 having bowled 35 overs last week.

However, the pacer could be held back until the fourth and final Test in Johannesburg, but he hopes he gets a chance to play in the third Test against South Africa.

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As per reports on ICC’s official website, Wood said: “I'll be putting my name in the hat for this next game. It will be up to the management whether I've bowled enough and am ready to go. But if they were to look at my style of bowling and think it could be beneficial then my name is in the hat.”

He also admitted that Jofra Archer and Chris Woakes are ahead of him in the pecking order but that doesn't make him comfortable with his position in the England squad.

The Durham bowler further added, “If I'm honest I think Jofra [Archer] and Woakesy [Chris Woakes] are ahead of me in the pecking order. But I'd love to think this is my period of time, where I've got through those hard times, and now I can kick on.”

He continued, “I'm not even in the team at the minute but I feel much happier within myself, I feel I'm an England cricketer rather than just someone that's always pushing to try and get into the team. I’ve heard the fourth Test in Johannesburg might suit me better because the ground is at altitude and the pitch is bouncier. Confidence is a massive thing. I know I can do it now.”

Mark Wood with Jofra Archer | GettyPraising Archer, Wood has expressed his desire to bowl with the speed gun against the Proteas side, adding: “We have a friendly rivalry over the speed gun. It’s nice that we spur each other on. In the World Cup, when I bowled one that was quite quick on the speed gun, I’d look over to Jofra and give him a little wink — and he would do the same to me. In the final, I knew I’d pipped him.”

Wood signed off by saying, “I was clocked at 95.7mph and he was 95.6mph and, as we came off the field, I was dying to tell him. I said to him as he walked into the dressing room, ‘Jofra! I’ve got you! I’ve done you on the speed gun’. He strolled past, fresh as a daisy, looked me up and down with ice packs on my side, my knee, and my ankle and said, ‘But I think I’d rather be me’. And I was like, ‘Yeah, fair enough, mate.’”

(With ICC inputs)

 
 

By Rashmi Nanda - 13 Jan, 2020

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