Wood reveals he missed call confirming England Test place

When the call comes for international duty, you answer it – only Mark Wood didn’t.

Thankfully for the England fast bowler, new national selector Ed Smith was in a rather forgiving mood when the conversation he’d been waiting for finally came.

Injury problems have thwarted the Durham quick’s Test progression but, with a clean bill of health now back his way, Wood is keen to let his bowling do the talking again – even if he stays silent.

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“I didn’t have Ed’s number saved, so when he rang me up I thought I’ll just let that one go as it was a number he didn’t recognise,” explained Wood, who left the Indian Premier League early in a bid to earn his Test recall.

“And then my agent rang me up and asked about a phone call, he said I’d better ring that back as it was Ed Smith and not just a random call.

“As I rang him back I thought that’s probably a good decision, it was nice to hear that I was back in the side.

“At the start of the summer it’s always exciting, it’s fresh and new after a long hard winter. I was away for seven months which is the longest I’ve had, the most of anyone.

“But when you come back you feel fresh, you have that new start and I’m looking forward to putting in the good performances.”

A proud North East boy, spending more than half a year away is a hardship that Wood is not afraid to admit had its difficult moments, both on and off the pitch.

Most of those have come from the sidelines, both with England and in the Indian Premier League, with the man who made his Test debut exactly three years ago still having just 11 five-day games to his name.

That 11-match haul has merited itself with only 28 wickets but, having returned to play for Durham last week, a career-best 6-46 against Derbyshire suggest the product is returning alongside the natural talent.

Wood hadn’t even been supposed to play in that outing, returning early from what he felt was a disappointing stint from the IPL with the Chennai Super Kings, taking 0-49 in his solitary match in the T20 competition.

“If I could have my time again obviously I’d love to do better in that match, but the cricket side of things, for training, just the learning experience was huge for me,” he added.

“I was nervous at the first game, obviously you want to impress and to not impress I felt a little bit down.

“I wouldn’t say it fazed me, I would say that it was an eye opener, and a realisation that I need to get better if I want to do well in that competition.

“Every time MS Dhoni comes out to bat, the atmosphere is unbelievable – in a team like Chennai, you’re in there with legends of the game, particularly in that country.

“And there was me just managing to slip in there as well, it was just great to be amongst them.”

For as much fun as Wood was willing to have on the subcontinent, his spring was about nothing more than getting back in the squad for this summer’s Test series against Pakistan and India.

But, for perhaps the first time in a long while, he’ll do so without injury playing on his mind.

“If I hadn’t bowled well in that second innings against Derbyshire, I might not have been in this squad so in a way I’m quite lucky,” he added.

“Maybe one game more would have been better but I kept trying to get back in that Chennai team.

“For a change I’m feeling alright, my ankle is never going to be 100 per cent and that’s what happens as a fast bowler, but it’s been a long winter where I’ve not picked up any niggles, so for a change it feels quite nice.

“You take it one day at a time, some days will be sore and as long as I stick to what I’ve been doing, I can get to the form I’ve been showing when I have been on the park.”

Mark Wood joined fellow Test players Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow to help launch England’s official new ODI and T20 kits, thanks to New Balance.