England have recalled pacer Mark Wood as a replacement for the injured Olly Stone for the remainder of the West Indies tour. Stone suffered a stress fracture on his lower back in the warm up game against the West Indies President’s XI and had to be flown back to England.
Lakruwan Wanniarachchi/AFP
Wood was impressive for Durham in England’s county season and also performed well for the England Lions, and has therefore been called up to the squad ahead of Somerset’s Jamie Overton. Wood is regarded as a genuine hit the deck fast bowler who’s ability to reverse swing makes him a difficult customer to deal with on his day.
The 29-year-old Durham bowler has played 12 Tests for the Barmy Army and picked up 30 wickets. He last played in the longest format of the game in England’s Test loss at Lords against Pakistan in June, 2018.
Wood is expected to arrive in the Caribbean over the weekend, and is unlikely to get in contention for the first Test which begins on the 23rd with James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Sam Curran firm favourites for the pacers slots.
