The c’est la vie approach behind an England bowler in the form of his life

Mark Wood is a crucial part of England’s limited-overs sides and he’s learning to play the long game in cricket’s shortest format, writes Vithushan Ehantharajah

England bowler Mark Wood (Getty Images)

During England’s eight-wicket win in the third Twenty20 to give them a 2-1 series lead against India, Mark Wood set a new personal best. With a back of a length delivery to Rohit Sharma, he registered 155km per hour - 96.3mph. It was the fastest ball he has bowled in an England shirt, across all three formats.

It was the hot white flash among a greater exhibition of heat on Tuesday night in Ahmedabad. Discounting deliberate slower balls from Wood’s four overs of three for 41, CricViz ranked this spell as the fourth fastest spell for an English bowler in T20is. The fastest was also by him, just last week in the first match of this series.

In fact, Wood is responsible for four of England’s top six quickest spells in the shortest format. Steven Finn fills out the list at number two and five. Not bad considering the Durham quick only has 13 caps to his name. All four, by the way, have come in the last six months.

If you want an indication as to just how vital the 31-year-old is to England’s T20 World Cup hopes (and the Ashes), there it is. And with the above comes confirmation that Wood is in the form of his life.

But you could argue the second T20, which Wood did not play (and England lost) shows just how far he has come. A heel complaint arose in the lead-up to last Sunday. He could have played but decided not to let his enthusiasm get the better of him.

“It was a bit of niggle before the second game,” said Wood. “I pulled up well, did a big fitness test before the game. All of that went to plan and then it was ultimately on my head, has it has been in the past. I’ve learnt in the past it’s not ready to go and play.”

Not many fast bowlers get to learn from past mistakes, but Wood has made sure previous errors are not revisited. In 2017 he forced himself to play through the pain in Tests against South Africa and paid a heavy price with wayward performances and further time on the sidelines. The lessons of not trying to make up for lost time – his decision to play those tests was fuelled by a desire to restate his case after debuting in 2015 but turning out for England just four times in 2016 – and being more sympathetic to his body. He knows injuries are not totally behind him. Even the issue for the second match was a reminder that freakish niggles can still pop up.

“It was a strange one,” he revealed. “The tape on my foot had slid, it was choking my foot a little bit which meant when I was bowling the last three or four overs I was landing awkwardly on the tape. It gave me a little bruise on the outside of my foot. I've done that before: the tape occasionally does slide but the physios worked on me really well.

“I know i've been doing the right things, but it's not a big injury or anything like that. If I have to miss a game here or there for little things...i'd rather me charging in and bowling as quick as I can to keep my performance level up rather than being at 50-60% and not doing myself or the team justice.”

As pace bowling enjoys a renaissance during this period of T20’s undulating tactical shifts, Wood alongside Jofra Archer, with Olly Stone waiting in the wings, is part of a battery of quicks at Eoin Morgan’s disposal. So far, Moeen Ali has not been called upon this series, with Adil Rashid the lone frontline spinner despite the prominence of turn in India and the Indian Premier League. Thus, Wood takes heart from how things have gone so far at the venue which will host 2021’s final.

“I’m hoping it’s big,” he answered when asked if he expects the majority of pitches to play the same come this winter’s global event. “It will give me a better chance!”

“I don’t think India is somewhere you’d naturally say is a fast bowler’s paradise, in Test matches you think of Australia, West Indies, South Africa. It can all change in the next two games, if the fast bowling is smashed in the last couple of games, we’re executing our plans well, but I don’t think it’s to get too high, if things go bad, it’s not getting too low, it’s something we’ve improved on as a group. At the minute things are going well, we’ve got to keep sticking at it and hope the next game is the same.”

That kind of “c’est la vie” approach is a necessity for T20 bowlers. And it is a frame of mind Wood and the rest of the England players are adopting ahead of the showpiece event this year. A number of the squad that will be picked as the 15 for this year’s World Cup will have the chance to be joint 50-over and T20 winners. Nothing, though, is guaranteed.

“I heard a colleague say the word ‘legacy’ the other day and it would be great as a group to look back after your career and think about the things you achieved.

“Obviously a lot of hard work has to go before that, but I do think we have got the potential to do it. It would be brilliant to win (this series) in India, against a top side. It’s a good opportunity when you put wins on the board, just like we did before the 50-over World Cup, it gives you confidence. We are not going to take a backward step now.”

Indeed, Wood ’s final over on Tuesday was another reminder to not get too ahead of himself. Coming into the 17th over with figures of three for 14 from three overs, with India labouring on 114 for five, he was taken down for 17 as Virat Kohli crashed him for two glorious sixes and a four in three consecutive deliveries. Kohli would finish 77 from 46 to help India to what they thought was a competitive 156 for six. England went on to chase it down for the loss of just two wickets.

“I thought a couple I bowled what I wanted to do and he just played good shots,” Wood reflected. “Good players are allowed to do that.

“I said to him at the end ‘that first ball you hit for six was a hell of a shot’ [a pull shot over the rope at midwicket which Kohli. He got in, took his time and went at the end. He’s a fantastic player we try to get out early. This time we didn’t but we were still pleased with the score we kept them to. I’ll take the back runs at the end for the early prizes.”

Wood also dismissed the notion the toss was having too great an impact on results. So far all three winners have won the toss and opted to chase. The day-night timings of these matches make it harder to bowl in the second innings as dew comes into play making the ball harder to grip.

Conditions may be slightly different under foot with the possibility of a used pitch for Thursday’s fourth T20 at the same venue, before the fifth on Saturday. Nevertheless, Wood believes England have enough about them to secure the series by going 3-1 up regardless of whether the coin and atmospheric conditions fall their way.

“I think it is a bit of a plus and minus actually,” argued Wood. “If you bowl second, you get to see what the opposition have done, what works for them. But both teams, the way that their batting line-ups are, clearly like to chase.

“Often we know that we are going to be bowling first if we win the toss because that’s how we play and we back ourselves.

“The dew factor, in terms how I have felt I have bowled first twice. I’ll have to see if it happens next game but I don’t feel like it would be something that would make me nervous or something I feel I couldn’t deal with.”