England craft a plan so Wood won’t burn out before Ashes
Even Root is copying Ollie’s weird and wonderful shots
ENGLAND coach Chris Silverwood will be ordering industrial quantities of cotton wool to wrap up Mark Wood until he can be unleashed on the Aussies.
The sight ofWood bowling like the wind in back-to-back Tests for the first time since 2017 was one of the great plusses from a successful South African tour.
He had not played since theWorld Cup final in which he tore his side, the latest in a long line of injuries.
That is why Silverwood is making Wood’s fitness over the next two years a priority so he can hopefully pair him with Jofra Archer in a fast bowling blitz
Down Under.
“We have to take it day by day withWoody,” said Silverwood. “Monitor him and make decisions based on what is best for him.
“We have to look at the way he trains as well.We need to make sure he is not wasting his deliveries in the nets. In an ideal world I would have two or three fast bowlers kicking around so they don’t have to play every game, so that when they need a rest we have the back-up.”
Wood is not the only bowler set to come under Silverwood’s watchful eye.The coach added: “Craig Overton and Olly Stone are guys we are looking at for theAshes.We have to nurture them and bring them through, it is a two-year project.”
OLLIE POPE has already made such a big impact as a Test batsman that even skipper Joe Root is learning from him.
Pope, 22, was the standout performer among the younger members of the squad during the 3-1 series win in South Africa, scoring his first Test ton and averaging 88 in the three games he played after recovering from illness.
And after watching his youthful No6 manipulate the ball to weird and wonderful areas of the ground, Root is fully aware of his exciting new talent.
Never mind the fact that the captain has scored over 7,000 more Test runs than Pope, he too continues to learn.
“It’s quite funny,” said Pope. “Rooty was one of my favourite players as I was growing up – watching him play has been awesome.
“He hit a shot – one of those ramps – and said, ‘I learned that one off you!’. That’s a big compliment from one of my favourite players growing up.
“But I learn a lot off him and that’s just the way batting works.”
Pope has earned favourable comparisons with Ian Bell because of the way he plays in a similar style.
He has that great advantage that Bell also possessed – time to place the ball where he wants and time to cope with the faster bowlers.
It is why Pope should be a permanent fixture in the England side for years to come as the young guns continue to establish themselves. For now, the Surrey man is not interested in moving up the order, as has been suggested by some outside of the dressing room.
Pope, right, knows he can continue to shine at six instead.
“Things have gone even better than I could have imagined,” he added. “And a few of us are definitely starting to feel established.
“We’re still young guys and I think that’s what we needed – a few scores under our belts to give you the confidence to know you can do it at this level, and doing it in a winning cause makes all the difference as well.
“I love being in the side and wherever I’m told to bat, I’ll bat. But at six I feel like I can offer a lot.
“I’ll do whatever I’m told because I feel I’ve got a good enough game to deal with wherever I’ve got to bat.”
Stuart Broad was handed a 15 per cent match-fee fine and one demerit point for directing an “audible obscenity” towards Faf du Plessis on the last day of the fourth and final Test in Johannesburg.
Incredibly, South Africa captain du Plessis escaped sanction despite bumping his shoulder into Jos Buttler during the row.
Officials decided it was not deliberate and seemingly chose to ignore the fact that even an unintended barge can merit a charge.
POPE was man of the match in the third Test and, right, in a stand with Root