Zak Crawley: Mark Wood backs England team-mate to keep openers spot for Zimbabwe Test match

Mark Wood has given his backing to England opener Zack Crawley ahead of the imminent squad announcement for the one-off Test match against Zimbabwe later in May.

Fast bowler Wood, who will miss the Trent Bridge Test – live on Sky Sports from May 22 – due to a knee injury, backed his top-order team-mate despite a recent run of low scores.

Crawley’s spot has come under increasing scrutiny while returning an average of 15.14 across his last 14 Test innings, form which he has somewhat carried into the county season with first-innings dismissals of 1, 0 and 1 in his first three matches for Kent – albeit following with two second-innings fifties in his last two outings.

Putting it to a vote, Crawley came out on top over his competitors among Sky Sports’ audience, and Wood too has urged England to “invest in him”.

“With big games coming up – and this is just my opinion – I would certainly try and stick with Zak,” Wood told the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast.

“I just think of how I feel when I bowl at Zak, and the way he plays fast bowling – if you miss, he punishes you.

“I would back Zak. I like the combination of him with [Ben] Duckett… right and left-handed, tall and short. And I think back to the hundred [189] he got against Australia [in Old Trafford Ashes Test in 2023].

“If you’re a bowler, you fear Zak in some way if he’s on. Against Australia, and with their sort of ‘alpha’ culture where they want to be on top of you, he doesn’t take a background step.

“I would invest in him. I think Zak is a proper player.”

The next Trescothick? Wood hails McKinney as ‘one for future’

Of the potential alternatives at the top of the order for England is Wood’s county team-mate at Durham, 20-year-old Ben McKinney, who hit 153 against Warwickshire earlier this season.

Giving an insight into the left-hander’s potential, Wood said: “He scored runs in Australia [on Lions tour]. He did well in the training camp in South Africa, while I was there, and he’s getting runs [for Durham] at Chesler-le-Street. Different conditions he’s coming up against, he’s still doing the business, which is the sign of a good player.

“The way he plays, he’s a very aggressive player, which I guess would suit the model that England like to have.

“The way that he sort of stands and hits through the line is a bit [Marcus] Trescothick-like. He won’t exactly get his foot to the pitch of the ball, but he’s got good hand-eye coordination.

“He’s still young, but he’s got a good head on his shoulders. He’s certainly one for the future. He’s got a lot of tools there to be successful.”

Cook ‘deserves’ England Test call up

Also rumoured to be in contention to earn maiden call-ups and potential debut caps are seam-bowling options Sam Cook of Essex and Sonny Baker of Hampshire.

The 27-year-old Cook has been a consistent performer on the county circuit for a number of years, averaging an astonishing 19.77 with the ball, while 22-year-old Baker has just three first-class appearances to his name but oodles of potential.

“I think [Cook] probably deserves a chance at some point,” Wood said. “I like him a lot.

“He’s backed up all these numbers in county cricket and, especially in England, it could be the time to see can he step up to this level? I’m sure that he can.

“He bowls very stump-to-stump and batters away at that length where he’s constantly asking you a question. He’s relentless at grinding people down and getting them to make a mistake. You’ve just got to ask someone like Joe Root, who will use his crease and walk at people, and he’s struggled against Cook.”

Wood added: “One I’ve been hearing great reports about is Sonny Baker. In Australia [on the Lions tour], he looked a pretty sharp, raw fast bowler.

“Sometimes you get cricketers where there’s just something about them. He’s maybe not the finished article yet, but he bowls quickly and takes wickets.”

On the podcast, Wood also discussed his frustration at the narrative that emerged over the winter that England’s players care more about playing golf, as well as his hopes of a return from injury towards the back end of the summer in time to play a Test or two against India.

Wood targets India Test return from injury

Wood: “[July], that’s the aim. I’m hoping to play a couple of games in July for Durham, and then put myself forward for the England stuff.

“I’m still aiming for a Test or two at the end of the India series, if I can get my body in a good place, but at the minute that’s quite a long way off to give a definite answer.

“Of course on the rehab road, it’s never a flat, straight line or an upward curve. There’s bumps in it.

“It’s slow going. With my other operations, on my ankle and my elbow, after like two to four weeks, you start to get going again, whereas this one is six weeks now and it’s still just light steps. I’m walking around without crutches, but I’ve only just started on the bike, so it’s really slow.

“As you can imagine, I don’t like doing things slowly, so it’s been a bit a bit frustrating. I’m just fed up of having to sit here with you guys on podcasts and it being ‘what’s the injury this time?’ I’ve put so much work in behind the scenes to not be like that, but it’s part and parcel of being a fast bowler I guess.”

‘Golf, golf, golf’ narrative couldn’t be further from truth

Wood: “Sometimes I think we’ve been so naïve and a bit dumb with the things that we say in the press.

“We’ll say things in the dressing room that, I think, should stay there. But then we come out the press and say, maybe off the cuff, a one-liner that as a group of lads we have been talking about. It makes us look like Billy Big Boots, like we’re above our station. We’ve got to be respectful.

“One thing that does bother me about the media is this narrative about ‘golf, golf, golf.’ I don’t play golf, it’s not a game for me, but I know the lads enjoy it with their time off. But, at times, the narrative is almost like the golf is more important, and that is not true at all. I cannot stress that enough.

“When we train, we train hard, but I think it’s about being sensible. Sometimes, if it’s 35 degrees in Pakistan, you’re not going to charge in for an eight-over spell the day before a game. In India for that one-day series, I think India only trained one more day than we did. It was travel, train play, travel, train, play, travel train, play.

“The lads don’t take it for granted playing for England. This narrative that, ‘oh well, we’ll just go and play golf.’ I can understand people’s frustration, but I’m telling you that people genuinely care and genuinely work hard. Do you think I don’t want to keep my spot in the England team?

“I’m there to win for England. It hurts when we get beat, nobody likes it. I think the quotes that come out from the team sometimes, we could definitely improve that, because it doesn’t come across that way, of how people are truly feeling.”

Watch England’s one-off, four-day Test against Zimbabwe, live on Sky Sports Cricket from 10am (11am first ball) on Thursday May 22.

England men’s Test matches this summer ☀️

All games at 11am UK and Ireland; all live on Sky Sports

vs Zimbabwe: Thursday May 22-Sunday May 25 – Trent Bridge
vs India: Friday June 20-Tuesday June 24 – Headingley
vs India: Wednesday July 2-Sunday July 6 – Edgbaston
vs India: Thursday July 10-Monday July 14 – Lord’s
vs India: Wednesday July 23-Sunday July 27 – Emirates Old Trafford
vs India: Thursday July 31-Monday August 4 – The Kia Oval

Ashes series in Australia 2025-26 🏏

All times UK and Ireland

First Test: Friday November 21-Tuesday November 25 (2.30am) – Optus Stadium, Perth
Second Test: Thursday December 4-Monday December 8 (4.30am) – The Gabba, Brisbane
Third Test: Wednesday December 17-Sunday December 21 (12am) – Adelaide Oval
Fourth Test: Thursday December 25-Monday December 29 (11.30pm) – Melbourne Cricket Ground
Fifth Test: Sunday January 4-Thursday January 8 (11.30pm) – Sydney Cricket Ground

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