Despite these setbacks, fast bowler Mark Wood remains confident in the team’s ability to perform well in the tournament. The disrupted series against Pakistan saw only limited action, with two matches abandoned without play.The team is scheduled to play its final match of the series soon.
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Several England players participated in the Indian Premier League, while others, including Wood, chose not to in order to manage their workload. Wood expressed his readiness for the tournament, noting his freshness and the work he has put into training.
“I might be going into the tournament feeling fresh. I’ve worked on a couple of things in training and you want the games to practise stuff, but it’s a fine balance. One or two of us might feel like we need a game or two to get going, but whatever preparation we get that’s what we’re going to have to go with,” Wood said ahead of the fourth match against Pakistan at The Oval.
England’s team faced additional challenges with head coach Matthew Mott missing the first match for family reasons and captain Jos Buttler being unavailable for the third match due to the birth of his child.
Wood highlighted the importance of prioritizing personal matters over cricket, adding, “Life things are sometimes more important than cricket. Those couple of instances were. I don’t think we should put a negative spin on them. It’s easy to look for excuses: we’ve had people away, the rain, whatever. We’re a professional side, we’re the England cricket team, we’ve got everything we need. We should be able to adapt and when we get out there that’s when the time to turn it on is.”
England are set to compete in Group B of the T20 World Cup, facing Australia, Scotland, Oman, and Namibia. The tournament will take place in the United States and West Indies, where England will aim to defend their title.
(Inputs from Reuters)
