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Michael Vaughan has opined that England rightly under bowled Mark Wood in Sri Lanka's first innings of the first Test. He reckons the speedster must be wrapped in cotton wool with a few other quick bowlers ahead of next year's Ashes in Australia.
Wood registered figures of 1/31 in eight overs as England bowled Sri Lanka out for 236 in Manchester on Wednesday, August 21. The hosts were 22 for no loss in their first innings when bad light caused a premature end to the first day's play.
During a BBC Test Match Special discussion, Vaughan was asked whether England was protective of Wood.
"Have they underbowled Mark Wood today - possibly, but I am not bothered about it now, because there is a bigger picture about Wood in terms of next year and what they are trying and bring. When you think Jofra, he has just been playing in The Hundred, looked pretty good. You can see what England are trying to do," he replied.
"They have got a clear plan of making sure that when they get Down Under in a year and a bit's time, they want to have these quick bowlers that they can rotate - Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson and Olly Stone. Let's be honest, for them to compete in Australia and win, they have to get them all fit. So you have to wrap them in a little bit of cotton wool before then. I think they are doing the right thing," the former England captain added.
Vaughan claimed that England are looking to bat Chris Woakes at No. 7 just because of Wood's presence in the XI. He reasoned that Ollie Pope and company couldn't have risked a three-pronged seam attack with Wood as one of the pacers.
"Whenever he comes into bowl, there is a buzz about it and suddenly things seem to happen quicker" - Russel Arnold on Mark Wood
Russel Arnold was asked about his thoughts on Mark Wood in the same discussion.
"Just love watching him play. Whenever he comes in to bowl, there is a buzz about it and suddenly things seem to happen quicker - batsmen hopping around, the best place to watch Mark Wood is from square of the wicket," he responded.
The former Sri Lanka player concurred with Michael Vaughan that Wood needs to be used in short bursts.
"Not many bowl at that speed consistently. To let him free, he has got to be used in shorter spells. Just an X-factor, use him sparingly," Arnold stated.
Wood was introduced into the attack in the 14th over, bowling a four-over spell and dismissing Kusal Mendis with a sharp-climbing delivery. He was brought back into the attack for another four-over spell in the 38th over but was not given the ball after that.
