Former England captain Michael Vaughan stated tearaway pacer Mark Wood becomes a more crucial player than Ben Stokes on flat pitches, and noted that Wood’s absence from the last two Tests against Sri Lanka is a big blow. Wood suffered a right thigh muscle strain in the series opener at Old Trafford that ruled him out of the remainder of the series. England won the match by five wickets on Saturday. On day three, he left the field immediately after bowling two deliveries into his 11th over in Sri Lanka’s second innings and did not bowl on day four.

“When you get on a flat pitch, Mark Wood is the most important player for England’s Test match team. Yes, even more than Ben Stokes. Wood is that good – and his injury that rules him out of the rest of the series against Sri Lanka is a blow.”

“Stokes is a colossus. Talismanic, an incredible leader, a brilliant player. But I just can’t see how England can replace Wood. He’s just got something very special about him,” wrote Vaughan in his column for The Telegraph.

He further cited Sri Lanka’s second innings on day four’s play as an example of where England will miss Wood. With Wood unavailable to bowl, Sri Lanka’s Kamindu Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal batted through the morning session and gave England a target of 205, which they achieved with five wickets remaining.

“How much England miss him was evident on the fourth morning with that fantastic partnership from Dinesh Chandimal and Kamindu Mendis when the pitch got flat and it became much easier for batting. We might get a lot of those conditions in the next year or so – definitely in Pakistan, and maybe a bit in New Zealand too. England need to find a way to take 20 wickets on wickets like that.”

Vaughan further explained what makes Wood standout from other England fast bowlers. “The point of difference that Wood brings is so important. England have got to wrap him in cotton wool to try and get him available for 60 or 70 per cent of Tests in the next year. Realistically, having Wood available that much would be a great outcome for England. A bowler like him is never going to be able to play every single game.”

“Wood is now the most important cog in this England Test match wheel for them to go and beat India, for them to go and win in Australia. He’s the player that opponents would most like to see not in the England side.”

“Even Jofra Archer, who is fantastic, doesn’t bowl 95mph. This is a guy that is doing something that we’ve never seen in English cricket. There’s not many around the world that bowled at Wood’s pace with that amount of ferocity. Every time he’s come on to bowl this summer, he’s made something happen.”

“He is not only obviously brilliant for the team, he’s brilliant for the game. We used to talk about Ian Botham, Andrew Flintoff and Stokes, how they’d get spectators out the bar to go and watch. Well, get out of the bar and make sure you’re there watching Mark Wood. He is that bowler. A bowler like that doesn’t just give a team a great point of difference. It also sends a shudder to the opponents’ dressing room,” he concluded.

England vs West Indies 2nd Test Day 1 Live Updates© AFP

Rohit Sharma plays a pull shot on Day 1 of fifth Test against England.© BCCI