' I was panicking' - Mark Wood on no-ball incident against Scotland
Match 6 of the T20 World Cup 2024 between England and Scotland was truncated to merely 10 overs in total before inclement weather played spoilsport.
Despite a mere 60 deliveries being bowled in England's curtain-raiser of the T20 World Cup 2024, the match offered substantial takeaways for reflection concerning the defending champions' performance. Conversely, the spirited Scottish display during the brief play at Kensington Oval on June 4 provided ample reasons for admiration.
Under the gloomy, overcast skies of Bridgetown, the atmosphere was markedly dismal. Scotland's innings had begun at a slightly sluggish pace, reaching 29/0 in 4.2 overs. However, the third delivery of the fifth over induced an alarm for a no-ball. It was a rarity for him to commit such an infringement which saw the Scottish openers capitalize on the error, accumulating 56 runs over the next five overs.
The no-ball delivery resulted in a skier successfully caught by skipper, Jos Buttler. Remarkably, that incident marked only the second occasion in Wood's 30-match T20I career where he bowled a front-foot no-ball.
Speaking the morning after the match, Wood confessed to feeling panicked following the incident and expressed regret over ending up wicketless. He believed this outcome adversely affected the team, and he would have much preferred securing a wicket in his economical two-over spell.
"I was panicking. If any of the others was a no-ball, I'm probably sitting here thinking, 'I've got one-for whatever, it's not a problem,' but because I'm getting the wicket off that ball, it hurts the team. That's what disappoints me. If [Munsey] goes on ... he reverse-sweeps Rash and every time that's happening, I'm thinking, 'oh no, that's my fault again'. That's the feeling I don't like, letting down my teammates. I'm come in feeling, 'oh no, I've overstepped, I can't believe I've done that'. I very rarely overstep. In practice, I'm diligent with it," shared Wood as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
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Furthermore, the 34-year-old expressed his determination to eliminate overstepping by dedicating additional practice and attention to this aspect during training sessions, especially with the upcoming high-stakes match against arch-rivals Australia. He emphasized that improving their performance would require a collective team effort.
"I was disappointed with the new ball and felt it could hurt the team. I will address it in training before the next game. It'll be a squad effort, this. Whether we mix and match next game, I'll be ready whenever the captain or team needs me," added Wood.
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