England captain, Ben Stokes described Mark Wood’s performance ‘Phenomenal’ on Day 3 of the third Test at Edgbaston where the pacer’s fifer paved the way for a quick finish and helped England clean-sweep West Indies 3-0 as well. At Lunch time on Day 3, West Indies were in a good position, thanks to fifty from Mikyle Louis and Kavem Hodge, and had turned a 61-run overnight deficit into a 57-run lead as well. Wood who had no success at the start of the day returned for the second session and found reverse swing and claimed five wickets for only nine runs in six overs to bundle West Indies out for 175 and set up an easy chase for England as well.
“The rewards that he [Wood] got I think was later than he actually deserved to get them. The effort that he always puts in when he wears his England shirt is just phenomenal. He’s got the heart of a lion and that little sort of 45 minutes or an hour period when he had the ball is exactly what you want as a captain,” Stokes told the host broadcaster at the post-match presentation. “Fast, extremely skilful, and he really blew the game open there for us… he was just phenomenal. It felt like he was going to take a wicket every ball. Obviously, when the balls reverse swinging at 93mph, it’s definitely going to be a lot harder. He’s very, very important. The skill that he possesses, the X factor he has, every team wants one of those and he showed why it’s so important today.”
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However, Wood, who was named the Player of the Match, said that he wasn’t too happy with himself at the end of the first session but a conversation with former legend James Anderson, who’s now the bowling mentor for England for the rest of the summer, helped him turn things around as well.
“Speaking to the management at lunchtime, I was pretty down on my myself and frustrated, but Jimmy [Anderson] gave me a great chat, telling me to focus on the skill side of things and moving the ball, rather than the outcome, and I really feel like that is what I tried to do. That first wicket gave me a lot of confidence and from there it just started to fly. My role is to bowl fast and that’s what Stokesy wants me to do and I’m proud of that role. Over the years my speed has been a bit up and down with injury but I’ve managed to maintain it these games and hopefully I can continue that into the summer,” again said Mark Wood.
However, Ben Stokes also applauded the two debutants in the series, Gus Atkinson and Jamie Smith, who both did well in the three Tests. Atkinson, the Player of the Series, finished with 22 wickets whereas Smith scored 207 runs in three innings, with two fifties as well, including a crucial 95 in the first innings of the third Test that helped England recover from 54/5 as well.
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“Gus and Jamie, what a first series for them. Gus’s debut couldn’t have got any better. He’s improved every single spell. Different conditions here and he showed his skills. Great to be able to throw the ball to two guys who’ve got such pace. Jamie Smith has been exceptional with bat and as a ‘keeper you sort of want to be unnoticed. He’s grown into that No.7 role very nicely,” said Stokes.
“You look at where we were in this game, 54/5, 18 months or two years ago, we might have responded to that situation in sort of a one-dimensional way, but now every person who goes out when we’re under the pressure knows what’s expected of them and what’s expected of them is to go out there and play what best suits them to assess the situation. Always obviously looking to put pressure back onto the opposition, but just being smart with your choice,” concluded Ben Stokes.
