England fast bowler Mark Wood is one of the fastest bowlers in international cricket at the moment. Doubtlessly one of the most-feared bowlers going around, Wood’s achievements would’ve been much more had it not been for frequent injuries hampering his progress especially in the recent years.
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However, on his day, Wood can still trouble any batter in the world. Currently playing his first match of Ashes 2023, the right-arm bowler was on point from the word go with his first ball of the series clicking at 93 mph (149.66 km/h). Playing his first representative match in almost 12 weeks, he clear his intentions of troubling the Australian batters with express pace.
In the very same over, he clocked 95 mph (152.88 km/h) to further up the ante. In what is his first first-class match of the year, Wood was breathing fire with the red cherry in hand. Wood’s fast delivery in Leeds thus far has been 95.6 mph (153.85 km/h). Quite deservingly, Wood’s first spell was of just four overs to manage his fitness.
Woody bringing the HEAT 🔥
Every rocket from our speed demon in that morning session 🚀#EnglandCricket | 🏴 #Ashes 🇦🇺 | @MAWood33 pic.twitter.com/gh2AETMLMa
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 6, 2023
It was on the fourth ball of the 11th over that he fired a 93 mph bouncer. Batter Marnus Labuschagne just ducked and keeper Jonny Bairstow also had no chance to collect the ball. As a result, the ball raced away towards the boundary as byes. This was certainly one of the best-ever Wood’s spells at the highest level with an average speed of 92.90 mph.
This Mark Wood spell should have its own Netflix series. 🤤🔥 #Ashes
— Melinda Farrell (@melindafarrell) July 6, 2023
Mark Wood Fastest Ball
Wood bowled the fastest delivery of his career against Pakistan in Multan last year. During the second Test of the tour, Wood bowled a 156.6 km/h delivery against batter Asad Shafique. He bowled a spell of 6/105 in that match which played a part in England winning by 26 runs.
The English pacer was at the top of his hgame in ICC T20 World Cup 2022 as well where he bowled eight out of the top 10 fastest deliveries of the tournament. He bowled a 154.74 km/h delivery in a Super 12 match against New Zealand. The ball took batter Glenn Philipps‘ inside edge to result in a boundary.
Wood, who last played for Lucknow Super Giants in Indian Premier League 2023, was bowling some really quick spells. Although he was not available for the whole tournament but he made his presence count.
| Format | Speed | Opposition | Ground | Year |
| Test | 156.6 km/h | Pakistan | Multan | 2022 |
| T20I | 154.74 km/h | New Zealand | Brisbane | 2022 |
| IPL | 151.2 km/h | Chennai Super Kings | Chennai | 2023 |
Mark Wood Injury List
Wood missed the entire English summer in 2022 after undergoing surgery on his right elbow. He missed IPL 2022 as well because of the same. Earlier, he had admitted that he was thinking about retiring from Test cricket during that phase.
Additionally, Wood’s injury also forced him to miss the semi-final and final of the World Cup down under. He was battling a fitness issue ahead of Ashes 2023, too. Apart from a long-standing elbow issue, he has been through multiple shoulder and hip injuries in the past.
