Ashes 2021-22: Geoffrey Boycott Feels Mark Wood "Throwing His Body 100 Per Cent Into Every Delivery Is A Recipe For Injury"

Former England opener Geoffrey Boycott has said that speedster Mark Wood puts 100 per cent of his body in bowling every delivery and it is a recipe for injury.

England pacer Wood is regarded as one of the fastest pacers in world cricket at the moment and he was a standout performer for Joe Root-led side in the Ashes 2021-22 opener against Australia at the Gabba, Brisbane as he managed to bag 3 wickets, still England lost the match by 9 wickets.

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Boycott in his column for The Telegraph wrote that Wood and Robinson did a good job for England in the Ashes opener. He stated:

“On the plus side, I thought Mark Wood and Ollie Robinson were splendid. Mark was consistently fast, accurate and threatening to the opposition. My only concern was him bowling flat out every ball. Throwing his body 100 per cent into every delivery is a recipe for injury.”

Boycott added that several great pacers have bowled amazing fast deliveries but they didn’t give everything on each delivery and only did that occasionally. However, with Wood giving it all in every delivery more injuries are around the corner for him feels Boycott. He stated:

“All the great fast bowlers throughout history have bowled very fast but slightly within themselves, only occasionally giving it everything. If he can’t throttle back a touch then more injury is around the corner, which would be sad. He’s 32 during this Ashes series and that is a fast bowler’s dangerous age for injuries. From now on fast bowling gets tougher on the body. We would all like to see more of him for a lot longer.”

Ollie Robinson Should Keep Using That Deceptive Slower Ball That Got David Warner – Geoffrey Boycott

Boycott also lauded pacer Robinson who bagged 4 wickets in the Ashes opener and said that he has an extra advantage of having a good height and he should use his slower balls precisely. He asserted:

“At 6ft 5ins Ollie has that advantage of delivering from higher than normal which gives batsmen a problem picking up the length. They are always thinking can I or can’t I get forward, as bounce is a problem. And then they get stuck on the crease which is fatal.

“Repetitive length at fast medium on English pitches with the raised seam on the Dukes ball will always bring success. But on flatter batting pitches, especially with the Kookaburra ball which has less seam, it would be better to mix up his pace a bit more.”

“Robinson should keep using that deceptive slower ball that got David Warner driving early and caught at mid-off, try bowling a bit more around the wicket to left-handers and use an effort ball now and again to surprise and keep batsmen guessing.”

The 81-year-old believes that Root winning the toss and batting first was a gamble and in the end it backfired England. He elaborated:

“Joe Root deciding to bat first was a gamble. Recent rain was bound to have left deep moisture in the pitch and it also had a tinge of green grass. I always believed you take the conditions in front of you and use them to your advantage and grab the initiative.”

“Thinking ahead too much can be dangerous. Once Australia had bowled England out for a paltry total, unless England could bowl them out for a similar score then they were playing catch-up cricket which hardly ever brings success.”

Geoffrey Boycott added that England did a mistake and they should face this fact and the planning done by England was all wrong. He elaborated:

“Face up to the fact that England made mistakes which didn’t help our team. For a start, your batsmen and bowlers looked underdone and should have had three or four competitive matches before the series. The planning was all wrong. It would be much better if you and your team answered with deeds and not words.”

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