England triumphed in the second Test against hosts Pakistan in Multan, clinching a memorable series victory in the subcontinent. Bowling spearhead Mark Wood was one of the star performers with the ball in the second Test, however, the blistering pacer revealed pondering over his Test career after a series of injuries earlier this year.
Mark Wood was exceptional in the second innings of the Multan Test, rattling the Pakistani batters with his rapid pace. Wood's 4/65 included the decisive wickets of Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Nawaz, who were taking the game away from the visitors.
Wood had a prolific outing in this year's T20 World Cup in Australia, relishing playing on the fast tracks in the country. However, the Multan Test was his first after sustaining an elbow injury in a Test against the Windies, nine months ago. When asked about his thoughts on his Test future in the immediate aftermath of that elbow injury, the 32-year-old conceded he was thinking about quitting red-ball cricket at that time.
"Well, in fact, yes. I wondered if I'd go white-ball only. At some my point my body will say that it's the way to go but I didn't prepare for 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. And I'm pleased we won here. I'd have been gutted if we'd won, I'd come in, and we'd lost. They'd have been pointing fingers at me!" Wood said ahead of the third Test in Karachi.
Stokesy now is much more mature, he speaks so well: Mark Wood
Mark Wood grew up playing cricket alongside his current Test skipper Ben Stokes after joining the Durham academy during their teen years. The right arm pacer remarked about the changes he has seen in Stokes over the last few months after taking the leadership role in Tests. England have won eight of their nine Tests since Stokes' appointment as the leader of the team and are playing an enterprising brand of cricket under his tutelage.
"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. He was this alpha guy who would whack it, and never back down. He's still got all that, but he's got other sides to him now. He'll put an arm around people, and express what he means really articulately," Wood added.
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