England's old school approach to fast bowlers is risky in Bazball's defining year
Even Mark Wood was surprised last week when
It is a risky strategy. The biggest task of the year – indeed of the four-year cycle – is at its very end, the Ashes Down Under in November. Before that, there is an epic Test series against India in the summer which they simply have to win.
The sensible, modern play would be to nurse
Managing fast bowlers is an art, and one that England have regularly got very wrong. McCullum's approach is old school, concluding that, for now at least, when they are fit, they will play. But is clearly fraught with risk, especially as Archer and Carse will spend a couple of months out of England's sight at the IPL this spring.
Wood is only just back from the umpteenth injury of his decade-long career, but so far McCullum has been as good as his word. There has been no rest and rotation in this T20 series. Wood and Archer, also no stranger to the treatment table, will go again for the third game in succession, even with fresh bowlers like Saqib Mahmood on the bench and India opting for a spin-heavy attack.
'I was surprised but I was pleased,' said Wood. I've missed so many games for England that when you have a chance you want to play.
'All the other lads will be desperate to play as well. They'll need exposure and it's totally different playing T20 in India when the crowd's pumping, it's flat, small grounds. You need to expose yourself to that. I was surprised but it's nice to hear.
'The goal of trying to have a big group of fast bowlers certainly helps. It's just nice now there's maybe more fast bowlers than what we had before.'
It has been a promising return after five months out for Wood, as he touched 95mph in his first game back at Kolkata, and was lively again in Chennai. Wood was out with an elbow injury that emerged when he was ruled out of a Test against Sri Lanka with a groin issue. Doctors even told him to stop picking up his young children with his right arm to rest the issue.
'It was a bit of a shock,' he said. 'To go from bowling well and feeling a bit of stiffness in the elbow to suddenly I could have a stress fracture. That was frustrating, but it's just another piece in my puzzle, somewhere on my body I've had to tick off. I worked incredibly hard in that period, training by myself in the North East, trying to get myself ready. That makes it sweeter. Great to finally get a wicket in an England shirt again.'
Wood admits that there are moments of doubt when he spends time on the sidelines – but not over whether he will return quickly.
'I don't wonder if I can bowl fast,' he said. 'The question is whether I can still be as good or consistent or accurate. I don't lose the belief that I can bowl fast. I do doubt if I will come back the same, or if that is it, the age I am at.'
'I've only bowled about 20 overs in my career'
Wood will turn 36 just after the Ashes ends, an age he knows is normally the winter of a fast bowler's career. He does not see it that way, though, thanks to previous injuries and the way he looks after himself (which on this tour, unusually, has led him to eat local food such as dhal and paneer).
'I would feel that as well [as others], thinking that this is the age people usually stop,' he said. 'So when you look at what's coming up you think could that be the end or could this be the last time I play here? You just don't know and I think as you get older that creeps in more.
'[It helps that] I've only bowled about 20 overs in my career! I haven't got many miles on my clock. I work hard on my fitness, I worked hard in that downtime. One percenters like not drinking, trying to eat well, all play a small part. I was a late developer in cricket, I wasn't bowling quickly until my early 20s, but lads now are 18 or 19. I was nowhere near there. Jimmy played until he was 41. I don't see why I can't keep bowling quickly [after the Ashes].
'I'm at the back end of my career now, I don't know how long is left. It could be injury, could be something else. I have missed so much cricket, I just want to take every opportunity and enjoy it.'
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