Mark Wood is relishing Jofra Archer’s delayed return to the Test set-up and a chance to take on his rival to see who will be England’s fastest bowler this summer.
Archer did not join up with the rest of England’s 30-man training squad yesterday after a member of his household fell ill. He passed a Covid-19 test but has been retested today. The result, which will come this evening, will decide whether he can join up with his team-mates at Southampton’s Ageas Bowl tomorrow.
Wood said of his fellow 95mph man: “It would be great to have Jofra around again. I’m sure he’ll be back, hopefully tomorrow, if he gets the all-clear. It’s great that we’ve got this sort of depth in the squad. He’ll be a major part of this summer.”
Wood and Durham team-mate Ben Stokes were early arrivals on Monday night, before the majority of the squad gathered at the on-site hotel yesterday.
And paceman Wood likened England’s training and playing bubble to something straight from the silver screen.
“It’s a bit like a sci-fi movie,” he said. “Everybody’s masked up and you can’t see anybody. You don’t know if they’re friendly or not! It’s a bit different and a bit weird, but it’s just something we’ll have to get used to.”
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