Should England name an injury replacement for Mark Wood, Warwickshire seamer Liam Norwell is widely expected to be the man to be called up in his place.

Given England’s current injury-list and notable non-selections, Norwell is some way down the pecking order. But should he earn that first call-up, he certainly would have deserved it.

Here’s his story so far:

Norwell is no young buck. Now 30, Norwell was one of the standout bowlers in the country in 2021.

Born in Dorset, Norwell represented Gloucestershire until the end of the 2018 summer after which he moved up the M5 to Warwickshire. For Gloucestershire, he took 248 first-class wickets at 26.97, but since his move to Edgbaston, that average has dipped to just 19.70 over three seasons at his new home.

A serious hamstring injury restricted Norwell to four County Championship appearances in 2019 and he only got on the park once in first-class cricket in the abridged 2020 summer. At the age of 29, 2021 was his breakout summer as he spearheaded the Warwickshire attack that won both the County Championship and the Bob Willis Trophy.

Norwell took 49 wickets at 18.26 in the Championship before taking 5-69 in the Bob Willis Trophy final at Lord’s. That form earned him his first England Lions call-up to tour Australia earlier this winter, shadowing the senior squad in the early stages of their ultimately desolate Ashes campaign.

Norwell impressed in his outing against Australia A, taking 5-58 in the first innings to help the Lions bowl out their Australian counterparts for 213 in their first innings.

Given the injuries to Jofra Archer and Olly Stone and the controversial non-selections of Stuart Broad and James Anderson for the ongoing West Indies tour, Norwell was arguably unfortunate to miss out on selection in the first place.

Norwell is a right-arm seamer who hones in on batters’ front pads and whose action resembles Scott Boland’s. He also possesses the handy knack of dismissing top order players.

After returning from Australia, speaking to the Warwickshire website, Norwell explained how he utilised his proximity to established international stars Down Under to make subtle improvements to his game. He said: “I spoke to Stuart Broad a lot, particularly about bowling to left-handers because we both like to go round the wicket to them. I also spoke to Ben Stokes quite a few times about different angles and different grips on the ball because we are fairly similar sorts of bowlers.

“It was just great to be part of the England set up and now I just want to bring all that knowledge I gained back to Edgbaston and make myself a better bowler for Warwickshire next season.”

It’s possible that those learnings may be seen in Test cricket as well as county cricket in the near future.

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