The biggest mistake of the Bazball era? Playing Mark Wood in West Indies third Test
England’s transformation by Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum has been wonderful to behold — if England polish off Sri Lanka here, their record will be 20 wins against eight defeats — but that should not blind us to three mistakes which this regime has made.
First was the folly of making New Zealand follow on in Wellington, which ended in England losing by one run. Their new aura of invulnerability was thereby lost — and at the crisis at Edgbaston, in the first Test of the subsequent Ashes series, when Australia had only two wickets left, such an image might have tipped the balance.
Secondly, selecting Dan Lawrence as opening batsman could have cost England the opening Test of this series, when the Old Trafford surface suited Sri Lanka and England almost stalled in their chase of 205.
Lawrence has one more innings before Zak Crawley’s return; and the element of man-management in giving him this gig, as a reward for being 12th man for a couple of years, is understandable. But Keaton Jennings — one of many batsmen who has improved since representing England — would surely have scored rather more runs in this series than Lawrence’s 85 to date.
However, the biggest mistake was to play Mark Wood in the third Test against West Indies no more than four days after he had bowled 28 overs in the second. Wood had one of his most successful Tests at Edgbaston: he gained the rewards he had earned at Trent Bridge, finishing with seven wickets.
Wood’s Edgbaston selection senseless
But it made no sense to select him, England being 2-0 up going into the third Test, and the West Indian batting demoralised; it made about as much sense as inviting the lad next door around for a drink and getting out the best china. The risk of an accident was not worth taking.
Lo and behold, what should happen after Wood had bowled another 30 overs at Edgbaston, making 58 overs in the space of 11 days, during which he touched 97 mph — the highest ever recorded by an England bowler?
The news about Wood was quietly buried at the optimal time for all bad news, on a Friday evening, shortly before the announcement of Andrew Flintoff’s return to the fold as the Lions coach.
Accident waiting to happen
Wood “had noticed increasing stiffness and discomfort in his (right) elbow during the Test series against West Indies”. Who would have thought that should befall someone firing arrows as fast as Jofra Archer, or rockets in Wood’s own term? Yes, it was an accident of war — an accident of war that was waiting to happen.
“He played a full part in the first Test against Sri Lanka at Emirates Old Trafford, managing the discomfort (in his elbow) whilst he was bowling. During that Test match Wood also sustained a right thigh injury, which is being managed and from which he is recovering well. As a result he will miss England’s upcoming winter Test tours of Pakistan in October and New Zealand in December.”
Wood is, in a word, unique. He is the fastest bowler England have ever had. He is 34, turning 35 in January. He was England’s most effective bowler in the last Ashes series in Australia, and turned the tide of the last Ashes series in England.
Michael Vaughan has declared that Wood is England’s most valuable cricketer, even more than Ben Stokes. Yet England deployed him to take down such immortal luminaries of the crease as Kirk McKenzie, Alzarri Joseph and Jayden Seales.
Wood “aims to return to full fitness by early 2025, in time for England’s white-ball tour of India and the ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan”, according to the ECB’s press release. One would venture to suggest that Wood’s three-year central contract should be used to maximum effect rather differently, starting with binning all 20-over cricket, which has never been his format, and 50-over cricket, although he played his valiant part in winning the 2019 World Cup.
While England were playing Wood at Edgbaston, they could have given a Test debut to another member of their squad, Dillon Pennington, who was the early-season form bowler for Nottinghamshire. As Pennington was not selected for a Test, he played in the Hundred instead, pulled a hamstring, and has not bowled competitively since.
England need all the quality pace bowlers they can get in Australia in 15 months. They need all they can get next month in Pakistan, too. England are due to play one or even two Tests in Rawalpindi, where Bangladesh have just beaten Pakistan for the first time and where their pace bowlers, for the first time, took all 10 wickets in one innings.
England have diversified their resources this summer, in accordance with their original strategy, but by accident — the accidents to Wood and Pennington leading to call-ups for Ollie Stone and Josh Hull — not design.