Wood relives four of his fastest spells after retirement

When Mark Wood retired on Tuesday, he brought to an end one of the most entertaining England careers in recent years, finishing as a two-time World Cup winner and an Ashes winner. The fast bowler, whose career was repeatedly disrupted by injuries, recounted four of his fastest spells in his own words.

Wood is regarded as the fastest England bowler by most metrics and said his pace came in bursts amid a stop-start career. He averaged 41.73 across his first 12 Tests but, on the advice of Michael Holding, lengthened his run-up and then averaged 27.11 across 26 Tests. Using the longer run-up for the first time, he took 5-41 in the first innings of the third Test against West Indies in Saint Lucia in 2019, a performance he called "That was the fastest."

Describing that Saint Lucia day, Wood emphasised the physical sensation of rhythm and release: "You feel weightless, like you're never tired and are just picking up speed. It feels like you have all of this momentum and loose energy to release. You feel a surge through your body and then a whip out of your fingers. That day I didn't have to try." He said the longer run-up gave him "much more momentum, flow and freedom and the ability to bowl consistently quicker for longer," and added: "When I lengthened my run-up, if it was below 90mph I was annoyed."

Wood's best match figures came in the fourth Test against South Africa in Johannesburg in 2020 when he took 5-46 in the first innings at the Wanderers and 4-54 in the second for match figures of 9-100. Recalling the game, he said: "I faced [South Africa bowler] Anrich Nortje there and when he bowled a bouncer I could hear it go past me. I was honestly so scared but something clicked in me that I would bowl fast." He also described the dismissal of Rassie van der Dussen for 98: "I got Rassie van der Dussen for 98 caught from round the wicket. We double-bluffed him. That was a great wicket because he was giving us a bit of verbals back. ... A few of the lads were desperate for me to stick one up him. We set up this bouncer plan, I pitched it up and he hit it straight to cover."

At the end of the 2021-22 Ashes tour Wood recorded his best innings figures of 6-37 in the second innings of the final Test in Hobart, a match England lost. "It is disappointing because you are losing but you still have the pride in your own performance. You have to have pride in your performance," he said, adding: "I wanted to do it for Spoons [coach Chris Silverwood]. He was under a lot of pressure but was really good for me and backed me up - Jon Lewis the bowling coach as well." Wood recalled the respect he received from the Australian public and a personal moment afterwards: "[Afterwards] I was in the lift with Justin Langer and he put his hand up and pulled me in and said 'respect'."

Wood said he would probably be best remembered for his 5-34 in the first innings of the third Ashes Test at Headingley in 2023, produced on a day when he averaged 90.4mph on day one. "I was absolutely ready to go. The day before I was bowling to a mitt and the strength coach had to swap because it was hurting his hand so much," he recalled. "It was a special moment because my parents were here as well. It was the first time they saw me get five wickets. ... That day I got to pitch it up and it was the swing that did it. The BBC had [the Khawaja wicket] on socials and I watched it so many times. I just loved the noise it made. I wish I could bottle that up."

Wood's 5-34 at Headingley, he said, "proved to be a turning point in the series as England fought back to draw the contest 2-2." He retired on Tuesday, bringing his playing career to a close.