'Wood's reverse-swing skills should earn him third seamer spot'
Thursday 21 April 2016 16:39, UK
People always talk about how Jimmy Anderson has been the main man in the England attack for years but Stuart Broad's stats show he is now a leader in his own right.
He proved during the Ashes, when he finished as England's top wicket taker, that he can step up when needed and there's no doubt in my mind that he is bowling better than he ever has.
He is at the peak of his powers and I think a lot of that is down to him knowing his body better than perhaps he did when he was younger and England keeping him fresh by resting him from the ODIs.
Stuart will have to bowl different lines and lengths to get the success he got this summer when he plays in the UAE but he is more than capable of adapting, as well as finding reverse swing.
He showed that when England played Pakistan in the Emirates three years ago, taking 13 wickets at a touch over 20 to become the top performing seamer on either side, and I think he can do it again.
The lack of pace on subcontinental pitches means batsmen don't have to deal with much short stuff but because Stuart is so tall he can catch players by surprise, pin them back and make them fall over.
His ability to bowl straight works really well in these conditions, too.
Players like to come at you and score quickly on Asian wickets but Stuart can negate that by maintaining straight lines, frustrating batsmen and forcing them to play loose shots.
It might be a little bit more difficult in the UAE for Stuart's mate, Anderson.
I get a little bit annoyed when I hear that Jimmy needs conventional swing to be a good bowler because you don't accrue the Test record he has without being able to adapt to different tracks.
But he may have to bring his length back, use a few subtleties in order to get his wickets and not expect to have batsmen nicking behind the way they did during The Ashes this summer - split fields and encouraging players to play across the line might be the way to go.
The key to bowling in the UAE is to create pressure and not let batsmen get easy boundaries so every bowler will have to fulfil a holding role at some stage, including the spinners.
With that in mind, Mark Wood was always my preferred choice to Steve Finn as third seamer even before Finn got injured because of the impact that he's had in the Test arena already. Finn is a wicket taker but can also concede runs and that's not something Trevor Bayliss will want.
Wood took crucial wickets this summer and I think he will be able to reverse swing the ball back into the right-handers but, like Simon Jones and Andrew Flintoff before him, also get the ball going the other way.
There has been talk that, to get two spinners in, England could play Ben Stokes as third seamer, but I think it is a tad too early in his development for that, especially on pitches where it will be hard to take 20 wickets.
That's not to say I don't rate his bowling, though, as he can be a match-changer with both bat and ball and if he can find a regular level of consistency he can be the best all-rounder in world cricket.
England's tour of the UAE to play Pakistan is live on Sky Sports, starting with the opening Test, in Abu Dhabi, on Tuesday 13th October. You can also watch without a contract on NOW TV.
