WI vs ENG | 1st Test: We tried too hard to prove ourselves in the absence of Broad and Anderson, says Mark Wood

The English fast bowler Mark Wood admitted that the English seamers were trying hard to make up for their legendary seamers James Anderson and Stuart Broad on the second day of the ongoing first Test against the West Indies in Antigua. 

Wood believes that the controversial decision to drop both the stalwarts had initially taken a toll on the touring pace-battery. Still, the way they made a comeback in the middle session showed what this bowling unit is capable of achieving. 

Anderson and Broad have formed one of the best bowling pairs in the history of Test cricket, and it isn’t an easy task for the other young bowlers to replicate the same kind of success all of a sudden. 

Wood, who has played 26 Test matches, reckons that they were probably trying to prove themselves in the absence of the big two but ended up trying way too much, which resulted in their failure in the initial phase of the first innings of the home side. 

But what followed next was simply outstanding from England’s perspective as they came back into the game in a majestic manner by picking four wickets for just 44 runs, which let West Indies slip from 83 for 0 to 127 for 4 in a span of 16 overs. 

This effort by the England seamers showed their true character and instilled the belief that they could perform well even in the absence of Anderson and Broad. 

“They will obviously be talked about because they are legends but we just have to admit we didn’t get it right to start with today. Maybe we tried a bit too hard to prove we can do it as a group without Anderson and Broad but the way we came back in the middle session showed our character”, the right-arm fast said. 

“But we don’t want to compare ourselves to them. They are high-quality players but we have to bring the best we can do”, the 32-year old concluded.  

However, the home side recovered well after surviving these blows by the England seamers, thanks to an unbeaten partnership of 75 runs between Nkrumah Bonner and Jason Holder. 

Currently, the West Indies are placed at 202 for 4, thereby trailing by 109 at stumps on Day 2.