Mark Wood believes he can still up the ante with his pace despite surpassing 90 miles-per-hour on his return to England duty at the Ageas Bowl.

Wood has spent the last year battling an ankle injury and came back from two operations to play in England’s rain-affected, 44-run Royal London One-Day International victory against Pakistan on Wednesday – claiming his first international cap in nine months.

The 26-year-old paceman first underwent surgery last November for an issue on his left ankle and then went under the knife again in April.

After a prolonged spell on the sidelines and now nearing full fitness, Wood hit 92 mph at Southampton two days ago and he says he can bowl quicker.

"I reckon I could, yeah. When I get that rhythm and match fitness back," he said.

"I've been rushed back through to get some game-time having missed the first half of the summer, and I've been desperate to play, so I've not really had that time where I've been getting used to bowling and bowling again.

“I've only played two Championship games, and in one of those I only bowled 14 overs. So if I get that match fitness back up, hopefully I can bowl even quicker.

"I have not got the pain in the back of my ankle, which was causing me huge problems. People were saying I could not play back-to-back games, but it wasn't that I couldn't play back-to-back. I couldn't bowl at 90mph every day and I'm a totally different bowler bowling 90mph to when I am bowling 80mph.

“I need that pace and, with no pain in the back of my ankle, I find that a lot easier on my body.”

Wood has been back bowling for a month and made a sparkling contribution on T20 Finals Day last Saturday at Edgbaston; the express bowler taking four wickets to help Durham thwart Yorkshire in their semi-final clash, before his side succumbed to defeat at the hands of Northamptonshire in the final.

With his central contract up for renewal and Durham embroiled in financial struggles, the player is focussing hard on re-establishing himself in the England set-up. 

"Am I confident of a central contract? I wouldn't say so,” he said.

“I wouldn't say I'm confident because I've not played for England for a long time, and throughout this year I probably haven't deserved to get another one, so we'll just have to wait and see.

“But in terms of Durham, I'm focusing on England at the moment and I'll see what happens there come September."

 

Trent Bridge will host an Investec Test Match between England and South Africa, and a Royal London One-Day International visit from the West Indies, in 2017.

Sign up here to be the first to hear about fixture and ticketing information for these two matches.