One feature of the World Cup so far has been the importance of quality pace bowling. This was not on display on Tuesday in Bristol, where for the second time in the tournament play was abandoned for the day without a ball being bowled. Even in benign conditions there may not have been any genuine pace bowling to enjoy since this is not the strength of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, the two teams marooned at the County Ground.
But pace has been prevalent elsewhere. The white ball has declined to swing. Few pitches have offered any lateral movement – though this could change after the deluge – so the ability to propel the ball at 90mph or to generate the steep bounce that makes the hook shot so hazardous has become all the more important.
For the first time in a while England possess two of the quicker bowlers in the world in Jofra Archer and Mark Wood and one of them, the more loquacious of the pair (Wood), has been talking about that as the team begin to prepare for their next match, at Southampton against West Indies.
At the end of England’s tour to the Caribbean this spring, Wood troubled several of the West Indies batsmen and he intends to do the same again on Friday. “I hope they are worried about facing me and that I can get amongst them again,” he says. “I can remember getting [Darren] Bravo and [Shimron] Hetmyer out to short balls so it is a good thing we can fight fire with fire,” he adds, thereby acknowledging that West Indies have genuine pacemen too in Oshane Thomas, Andre Russell (if fit) and the saluting Sheldon Cottrell.
Wood seldom ignores a positive. “It is great coming up against the West Indies again because it is a team I’ve had success against. It’s like a goalscorer who is up against a team he’s been scoring goals against in the past. He looks forward to that match. And I’m doing the same against the West Indies because I’ve had a bit of success.”
Wood’s new pace partner is also familiar with England’s opponents since he played alongside some of them when he was growing up in Barbados. There was the notion that the long-established pacemen in the England ODI setup were uncomfortable about Archer’s swift elevation. Such thoughts have long been dispelled. Wood happily sings the praises of his new teammate.
“With Jofra having those links I’m sure he will be desperate to prove himself against the West Indies but he’s so cool and laid-back that he’ll probably just take it as another match. Nothing seems to faze him and each new challenge he’s come up against he has thrived so I think we’ll both be looking forward to the match.
“It’s exciting and frustrating because he makes it look so easy. I have to nearly break my back to get it as fast as him but he’s got no problems cranking it up. He is different to me because it looks like effortless pace and so he surprises people by how quick he is. I saw a stat that said that Jofra is the quickest, then [Mitchell] Starc, then me. To have us both bowling at 94 and 95mph and two guys from the England team at the top of the list is pretty good. Other teams have had pace recently but it’s been a while since England had two men, maybe Flintoff and Harmison.”
This is indeed a source of great encouragement though Eoin Morgan and the rest of the group may remind Wood that the most important stat of all is to score more runs than every one else. However, bowling quicker than the opposition might contribute to that in this tournament.