With England rock-bottom in the World Cup standings after five defeats out of six, the timing of the announcement has attracted significant criticism. Speaking on a podcast this week, the former England captain Michael Vaughan claimed it was “disgraceful” that Wood’s fellow squad member David Willey had been overlooked in the ECB’s 26-player list – a snub that has played its part in Willey calling time on his international career.
However Wood, who will be approaching his 36th birthday by the time the next Ashes tour comes round, believes that the deal – one of just three three-year contracts handed out, along those offered to Harry Brook and Joe Root – is the best way for him to manage his workload amid the competing temptations of the T20 franchise circuit, and ensure that he can give his all for England’s highest-profile engagements.
“I’m delighted obviously,” Wood said. “It is security for me as an injury-prone lad. I had to think about my family, going forward. If I ever have trouble, I’ll be well looked after by the England physios. If you’re effectively self-employed, you go to these [T20] teams and say ‘who wants me?’ But if I have a bad season or you get a bad injury, who then looks after you? So now I’m looked after by England, and employed by England.”
Wood is one of eight 2019 World Cup winners in England’s current squad, and like most of his team-mates, he has fallen well short of his highest standards in their title defence, claiming four wickets at 69.75 in six matches to date. “Everyone’s trying their nuts off,” he said. “It’s just not clicked the way that we want.”
Nevertheless, Wood’s raw pace has been undiminished, and in the opening match against New Zealand at Ahmedabad last month, he clocked the fastest delivery of the tournament so far, at 154kph (95.6mph).
After the Ashes, Wood did not play again for two months, as he sat out of the Hundred and England’s white-ball home series against New Zealand to rest up ahead of the World Cup. That need to manage his workload, set against the need for an elite sportsman to maximise their earning potential during their athletic prime, meant that the ECB’s three-year offer was a compelling arrangement for both England and Wood himself.
“The ECB had mentioned that, if I could keep up my standards and my pace, the Ashes away was the tour that they wanted me to get to,” Wood said. “I don’t think I could cross over loads of franchise and ECB, it just would have been too much with my injury record.”
The ECB’s reworked contracts are also intended to stave off the threat of full-time franchise deals, that could eventually result in many of the sport’s biggest names appearing for IPL-affiliated teams all around the world, particularly in the newly launched leagues in the USA, UAE and South Africa.
“I’ve always wanted to play for England,” Wood said. “That was always what I’ve wanted to do as a kid growing up. I’m going to have to be a bit better that I have been at the minute, but I’d love to be part of everything going forward.
When asked if he felt that the players had too much power in the sport’s current climate, Wood added: “I think it depends on each individual. Everyone will have different motivation, whether it’s money-orientated or whatever, but from my point of view, I wanted to play for England. You’re well looked after playing for England, and there are amazing things that come with England. A three-year deal? Why would I not be delighted with that?”
The challenge for England’s players now, however, is to live up to the expectations that come with their new deals, and Wood admitted that the team’s displays at the World Cup had not been good enough.
“I don’t think they were a distraction, but I can understand peoples’ frustration,” he said. “Obviously when lads are rewarded with things, and then they don’t perform at the level that you think, that’s justified.
“People do it all the time, don’t they? Footballers get it, but it’s not through lack of trying. We are trying our hardest to get this right. We’re putting in extra work. Just look at the net sessions. It doesn’t feel any different.
“There’s no cracks in the group. There’s no falling out. Everyone is generally trying to do it for each other. We believe in each other. It’s just not happening the way we want.”
Andrew Miller is UK editor of ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket
