Mark Wood said he is worried England’s hopes of winning the rain-hit third Test could be put in jeopardy by the weather on the final day.
England need four wickets to complete a victory over South Africa that would give them a 2-1 series lead heading into Fridays’s final Test in Johannesburg. South Africa ended the fourth day on 102 for six having been forced to follow on.
A gloomy forecast for the final day provides South Africa with hope they could still save the match, even if a Test-best haul of four for 31 from Joe Root, and two wickets for Wood, in the Durham fast bowler’s first Test for 11 months, make that scenario unlikely.
“I thought Africa was the sunniest place in the world and then I come back and it’s like Durham,” Wood said. “I’d be lying if I wasn’t a little bit worried. But because we’re in a hot country and the wind’s blowing, you hope it’s going to dry quickly if the wind stops.
“We managed to get a lot of cricket in today and we played really well. If we have the same attitude tomorrow we’ll be in a good place.”
Wood, whose last Test appearance was against West Indies in St Lucia last February, had not played a competitive game since sustaining knee and side injuries during the World Cup final against New Zealand in July.
Despite a positive return, Wood is unsure whether his body will allow him to play consecutive Tests and appear in the final Test at the Wanderers, a venue renowned for having one of the fastest pitches in the world.
“That’s too far to look ahead especially with my body,” he said. “I don’t like to say, ‘my body feels good’ every time and feed you false information. I’ve just got to see how it goes.
“I’m in a good place at the minute, I’ve been bowling well in the nets, getting through this game well. We’ll just wait and see.
“I’ve waited quite a while to come back. July was last game I played, so I was trying to have fun, take it all in, play with smile on my face. With the way my body has been, it’s something you can’t take it for granted, it could be my last game.
“Being a fast bowler you want to play on quick decks. I’d love to play there. I’ve trained there once and it flew through. I’d love to have a go, I’ve never played a match there so we’ll wait and see what happens. But there’s a job to do here first. We’ll get through this and see what happens.”
There were also words of praise for Root, whose off-spin played a decisive role in the final session of this fourth day. “I think because he’s captain, he under-bowls himself a lot. He does get key wickets when he bowls and he’s been working on it a lot in the nets. I don’t know if you’ve seen in practice, he’s doing a lot more bowling.
“As a group we’re really pleased for him to see him get four wickets. Hopefully he’ll get the five-for tomorrow.”
Wood’s fellow fast bowler Jofra Archer is progressing well from the elbow injury that has ruled him out of the past two matches, raising hopes he will be fit for the final Test.
