"Everyone is fit to bowl" - Marcus Trescothick dismisses fitness concerns regarding Mark Wood ahead of Day 5 at Oval
England's assistant coach Marcus Trescothick brushed aside any fitness concerns with Mark Wood ahead of Day 5 of the final Ashes Test at the Kia Oval in London. Trescothick revealed that bringing Wood into bowl relatively late on Day 4 was a tactical decision.
Wood, who has had a massive impact on the Ashes series since first playing at Headingley, didn't come into bowl until the 33rd over. The 33-year-old sent down three overs and leaked 16 runs.
Speaking after the day's play, Trescothick stated that all the bowlers are fit to bowl. He said, as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo:
"I think pretty much like everybody, there's little aches and pains that are going off the back of a big five-Test series. Both teams will be travelling in the same way at the moment. But yeah, everyone is fit to bowl. It was a tactical decision."
With umpires abiding by England's request of changing the ball on Day 4, the 47-year-old felt it made a difference and lamented the red cherry going soft quickly. He added:
"I think it was just a bit harder. That was the difference. Immediately, there's a bit more life in it. Balls seem to have gone very soft very fast in this game - and this series. Both captains have tried to change them on numerous occasions. Whether it makes any difference, the rain coming down and saving it for tomorrow, who knows?"
England bowlers failed to create a breakthrough in 38 overs as Australia reached 135-0, with both Usman Khawaja and David Warner reaching half-centuries. However, persistent showers washed out the second half of the session.
"You saw him bowl today" - Marcus Trescothick on Moeen Ali
Marcus Trescothick also expressed delight at Moeen Ali's return to fitness after the all-rounder suffered a groin injury on day 1. He added:
"He's OK. You saw him bowl today. He's obviously had the little niggle that he's got. He's obviously had a bit of rest and put his feet up. It's not 100% - of course it's not. It's not going to be probably for two or three weeks from now, but we've got a little bit out of him and will continue to try to do that again tomorrow."
Australia require another 249 runs on Day 5 to achieve the highest successful run-chase in Tests at the venue.