Chris Tremlett: Wood can help England forget Lord’s woes in Ashes
It’s incredible. Tomorrow sees a must-win Ashes Test match for England against Australia and there seems to be more chatter about what’s going on off field than on it.
The unsavoury scenes in the Lord’s Long Room was not a good watch and not good for cricket but I do hope nothing changes – except the behaviour of the minority – with the tradition of it.
I remember when I made my Test debut against India in 2007, it was at Lord’s and it is a moment I will never forget.
Ashes in the balance
Walking through the pavilion at the Home of Cricket and being that close to fans is amazing, even looking back now.
I’ve had nightmares about being in there and needing to go out to bat but not having my pads on – it’s a cricketing scene instilled in my memory. I hope there’s a solution where this experience can be kept.
But on to Headingley and a decisive Test for England. It looks as though rain may force a draw and hand Australia the Ashes but we live in hope – we all remember what happened in 2019 when Leeds last hosted a Test against Australia.
We were treated to another Ben Stokes masterclass last week – one of the all-time great innings – so why not this week?
And I am over the moon to see the return of Moeen Ali and Mark Wood.
We all knew Wood would be in the mix if he was fit and he takes the place of Jimmy Anderson, who hasn’t hit his usual heights thus far.
Wood offers something special; he’s quick and threatening to face and will be a slight unknown for the Australians to front up to on the Leeds crease.
Pope concern
And it is only smart to return to a full-time spinner. We have seen in the past how this pitch can turn and Moeen will be vital as the match goes on. I just hope his injured finger is able to hold up.
England’s batters need to step up too and Chris Woakes will be key in adding some runs to the total as an all-rounder.
It is a shame to see Ollie Pope ruled out by injury — the England vice-captain is obviously seen as a core part of this current Test side and his loss will be felt, even if he hasn’t scored at his usual rate in this series.
I saw an astonishing stat this week that England’s collective batting average is higher than Australia’s. It just shows how close this series is, despite the tourists being 2-0 up.
I hope England can get a win up at Headingley. Stokes has spoken of the series from now as a three-match competition where England can win 3-0. Let’s see if they can make it happen.