Mark Wood admits he considered retiring from Test cricket

England won the second Test against Pakistan in Multan, completing a remarkable series win on the subcontinent. Bowling spearhead Mark Wood was one of the standout performers with the ball in the second Test, but the scorching pacer disclosed earlier this year that he was considering retiring from Test cricket due to a string of ailments. In the second innings of the Multan Test, Mark Wood was outstanding, unsettling the Pakistani batters with his quick pace. Wood’s 4/65 included the game-changing wickets of Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Nawaz, who took the game away from the visitors.

Wood had a productive T20 World Cup in Australia this year, enjoying playing on the country’s fast tracks. The Multan Test, though, was his first since suffering an elbow injury in a Test against the Windies nine months ago. When asked about his Test future in the immediate aftermath of his elbow injury, the 32-year-old admitted he was considering abandoning red-ball cricket at the time. “Well, in fact, yes. I wondered if I’d go white-ball only. At some point, my body will say that it was the way to go but I didn’t prepare for the white ball, I prepared for all cricket. I desperately wanted to experience all this, with Stokesy and Brendon, so I’m pleased I’ve stuck with it,” Wood said ahead of the third Test in Karachi.

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Stokes has matured a lot

After joining the Durham academy as a teenager, Mark Wood grew up playing cricket alongside current Test skipper Ben Stokes. The right-arm pacer remarked on the changes he has noticed in Stokes in the previous few months since taking over as Test captain. England have won eight of their nine Tests since Stokes’ appointment as captain, and they are playing a daring brand of cricket under his guidance, “Stokesy now is much more mature. He speaks so well – he’s always had a fantastic cricket brain. But the way he comes across, the way he conducts himself, and the messages that he gives, he’s just so much more rounded than when we were growing up”. Wood concluded.