Mark Wood, a fast bowler for England, has admitted that the team’s T20 World Cup preparations have been “not ideal” because rain forced them to cancel two of their three planned warm-up matches against Pakistan. Unfortunately, this means that neither team is fully prepared for their final warm-up game at The Oval on Thursday, the day before they board transatlantic flights to the Caribbean.
This is in sharp contrast to the methodical preparation that England had prior to the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia. England practiced for the World Cup that year, first winning a seven-match series in Pakistan and then winning three games against Australia’s hosts, including one in Perth.
They played another match against Pakistan to wrap up their preparations. With an 11-game warm-up schedule, England had enough of time to adjust and fix any problems before the tournament started. They were able to raise the trophy as a result of their meticulous planning.
Mark Wood On WC Preparations
Mark wood when asked about the world cup preparations of Team England. He said :
“Some lads have been playing in the IPL and they’re match-ready,” Wood told the reporters. “The lads that haven’t, is there a freshness? At the IPL you’re playing all the time, other lads have seen your tricks, they’ve seen what you’re doing.
“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. There were plenty of games before the last [World Cup], but who’s to say it won’t work the other way round?” said Mark Wood.
The absence of the captain, Jos Buttler, from the equally washed-out third game to attend the birth of his third child, and the coach, Matthew Mott, from the postponed first game at Headingley owing to family obligations, have further complicated preparations.
“Life things are sometimes more important than cricket. Those couple of instances were,” Mark Wood said. “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.”
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