Mark Wood was ‘too quick’ for Australia’s top order at Headingley: Ollie Robinson
England seamer Ollie Robinson has said that Mark Wood was “too quick” for Australia’s top-order during the third Ashes Test at Headingley.
The 33-year-old bagged player of the match for his fiery spell in the first innings. Wood bagged 5 for 34 and set the tone for England in the match.
🎶 Pace and bounce, pace and bounce 🎶 #EnglandCricket | #Ashes pic.twitter.com/WSxUe9y9Z2
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 8, 2023
“It was crazy … I felt like if they hit it more than a metre either side of me it was a certain boundary,” Robinson wrote in his Wisden column.
“The fact he was consently getting the shape and movement on it as well – at that speed – was just unbelievable bowling. It was just amazing to watch and be a part of, though not so amazing for the batters, I’d imagine.”
Never in doubt 😉 #EnglandCricket | #Ashes pic.twitter.com/8FapL3CV4u
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 8, 2023
Wood knocked over Australian opener Usman Khawaja during his opening spell with a vicious inswinger that uprooted the left-hander’s leg stump. He then also troubled Australia’s No 3 Marnus Labuschagne.
“There was one ball that Marnus played, and after it he had a sort of wry, awkward smile on his face,” Robinson said.
in the side. with FIVE wickets!
Take a bow, Mark Wood 👏
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“He was trying to give off the persona that everything’s fine, when it’s really not, because someone’s bowling 95 miles per hour. You knew it was too quick for him after that.
“And even (Khawaja), who obviously plays pace really well and has been in such good form, even he struggled with the pace at times. He went from having this quiet persona at the crease to suddenly smiling and joking, trying to give off the feel-good vibes that he was fine.”
Robinson also lauded Wood’s unique energy. He said: “Woody’s just got this mad, unique energy. There’s no one else like him,” Robinson wrote.
“You think he’s drunk half the time yet he doesn’t touch a drop. Bear in mind this is a bloke who, 10 minutes before we went out, literally at 10.50am, was on all-fours barking on the changing room floor, going, ‘There’s a dog in the dressing room. There’s a dog in here, lads.’”
Robinson, who went off the field midway through an over on the first day and did not return due to back sapsm has also declared himself available for the selection of the fourth Ashes Test, which gets underway at the Old Trafford from July 19.
“I was available to bowl on the third day if I’d been needed,” Robinson said.
“The medical team said that’s it’s likely to have happened because I played back-to-back Test matches, and bowled 15 overs of bumpers at Lord’s. So sometimes these things come around, but then they go just as quickly as well.”
