There are fast bowlers, such as Mitchell Stark, who start relatively slow and build momentum in a spell. Wood, however, despite his injury, was energized and started off with a pitch at 149 fps.

I think the last couple of years have proven that I can play faster. From a body perspective, the fact that I was only able to play 12 overs will hopefully help us in the second inning. It’s not easy after not bowling, but at the same time it’s a fine line for me because if I bowl a lot, I could get injured. So I came in fresh and it was a good day, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself – I have to prove it again because the series is on the line, Wood will say later.

Unlike Stark or other extreme pacesetters who are tall, have a high lead, pitch the ball up or resort to rebounds as a Plan B, this player is more of a pacesetter who consistently hits difficult stretches and makes the ball glide over the ball. Michael Atherton compared Wood to former South African pacesetter Dale Stein in the comments. Indian seamer Mohammed Shami is also the same type of bowler, who rushes at batters and acts much faster than batters expect.

Wood’s performance in Moolthan against Pakistan in December on even ground, where he took four wickets in the second innings to secure England’s triumph, and his 6-fer at Hobart during the last Ashes series show that he can run the field.than carry a bit more momentum with him, it takes the load off his body, Stewart Broad said on Sky Sports.

Wood has acknowledged in the past that the process of changing the run length began after advice from former West Indies cricketer Michael Holding.

I told him what I felt: he was in a hurry to get into the cage, like he was thinking, Oh, I have to get there in a certain number of steps. Instead of relaxing and sliding, he was in a hurry, almost eager to get into the crease to release the ball. It looked awkward in my opinion. said Holding in an interview with The Indian Express.

In 2018, Wood explained the process on talkSPORT: I talked to Kevin Shine, the head bowling coach, and Chris Silverwood and said that because of the short span, I felt like I had to force it all the time. This meant that I was putting myself under more strain than I needed to, having to increase my speed in order to reach maximum speed. So Ibrought the acceleration back to feel like I could move more and look for more rhythm, rather than trying to be at the top all the time, putting more strain on my body.

Holding also recalled a conversation he had with Wood after he took nine wickets in a Test match in Johannesburg in 2020 after lengthening the sprint. He later told me that he was a bit stubborn at the time. And I can understand him. It’s not easy to change something you’re used to. You might think: Oh, I’m hitting almost 90, why change something and mess it up? 1472