Explained: Why England have picked Stuart Broad over Mark Wood for the first Ashes Test

This might seem a strange question to raise given that Broad is England’s second most successful Test bowler in history. Wood is also a bowler with a patchy injury track record at best, and he has not played a great deal of red-ball cricket in recent times.

However, there are several factors at play here. Ben Stokes stated his desire for fast, flat wickets ahead of this Ashes series, conditions in which Wood’s extra pace could be key. Given the hot weather in England recently and the historical record of Edgbaston to favour batters, it might have made sense to utilise the X-factor Wood brings.

Accompanying Broad tomorrow in the seam bowling department will be James Anderson and Ollie Robinson, as well as some overs from the captain. Yet, the last time these three played together, in the second Test in New Zealand, England looked toothless at times. This was particularly true in the second innings where Jack Leach took five-for and Anderson was wicketless, Broad and Robinson took one each, the same number as Harry Brook and Joe Root claimed.

More recently in the one-off Test against Ireland at Lord’s, there were times where Broad, the most experienced bowler on the field, looked ineffective. This was especially true when the ball began to grow old, with Ireland stitching together a lower-order resistance in the second innings to avert an innings defeat. Broad’s skill with the new ball is well documented. But against an Australian batting line-up in strong form there are going to be long stretches where England need to get something else out of the ball. This is where many thought Wood might come into play with his extra pace, possibly playing the enforcer role.

However, other than Broad being one of England’s greatest ever seam bowlers, there are several reasons why the 36-year-old might have been favoured over Wood. Firstly, Wood does not have a great Test record in England. He has taken 35 wickets across 13 matches and averages 40.71. Whereas he was one of the few players who went reasonably well in Australia in 2021/22 where he took 17 wickets in the four matches he played and averaged 26.64.

Another reason for picking Broad over Wood is due to the number of overs England are going to need out of their third seamer. Despite Stokes claiming he is fully fit and willing to bowl, there is still some concern over his fitness and it’s not clear how many overs can be expected from the skipper this summer, particularly in the first Test. If this is the case then it would make sense to pick three seam bowlers who are used to bowling longer spells in Broad, Anderson and Robinson, compared to someone like Wood who is better used in short sharp spells to make a big impact. This factor is even more pressing considering the identity of England’s spinner, with Moeen Ali openly accepting that he is less suited to a holding role than Jack Leach, who has been ruled out of the series with a stress fracture.

There is one final consideration in this issue of Broad over Wood and that is the David Warner factor. Broad has dismissed Warner a total of 17 times, seven of which  came in 2019 where the combative Aussie opener managed to score just 35 runs against Broad. Warner has been named in the squad for the first two Tests, and his fast starts have been key to Australia’s success in the past. Exposing him, and having an early go at Australia’s highly ranked Nos.3-5 of Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith and Travis Head, could be key to England’s success. If England are to capitalise on Broad’s knack for dismissing the Australian opener they must do so sooner rather than later. And what better way to do so than in the first Test tomorrow at Edgbaston?