A back injury to Olly Stone ruled him out of the upcoming three-Test series against the West Indies and Wood was roped in as the replacement.

“I’m over the moon,” he told talkSPORT. “Obviously it’s not nice for Stoney. I’ve been in his position where I’ve been injured and somebody else comes in to replace you, but his loss is my gain. Hopefully I can go out there and have a positive impact on the team.”

𝗔𝘀 𝗮 𝘄𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗿: 41 Tests, 2812 runs, five 100s at 41.35. 147 catches, 9 stumpings
𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗿: 19 Tests, 884 runs, one 100 at 29.46, 10 catches

Jonny Bairstow hasn't given up on the gloves just yet!

Full story👇https://t.co/zwwNCQtLOY

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) January 19, 2019

This will not be the first tour to the Caribbean islands for the 29-year-old, having travelled with the England squad on the 2015 series where the three Tests were tied 1-1. Wood didn’t get a game back then – since then, he has played 12 Tests and taken 30 wickets at 41.73 – but it left him with enough learning.

But Wood loves playing football and thinks the practice will continue for some time. “I’m absolutely loving it, it gets me going in the morning,” he said. “The football’s a major talking point, we have things thrown up, formations, managers, transfers and stuff like that. So it’s a good crack in the morning, it’s what everyone gets up for, gets their bodies going, so I think that’ll be staying for the short term.”