Kavem Hodge expressed satisfaction in achieving his first Test century during a healthily contested match against Mark Wood at Nottingham on Friday. During the intense battle, Hodge playfully reminded the England fast bowler that he had “a woman and kids to go home to”.
Hodge’s impressive 120 stood as the backbone of West Indies’ 351-5 by stumps on day two, slashing the difference to only 65 runs in reply to England’s first innings total of 416. This was much better than their pathetic batting performance during the innings and 114-run defeat at Lord’s which made them fall behind in three-match series one nil.
The Lord’s Test marked James Anderson’s farewell from international cricket after England bowled out for 704 wickets, highest number ever for a fast bowler.
In Nottingham Wood took over from Anderson pulling express pace all day with a top speed of 97.1 mph (156.2 kmh) and an average velocity of about 93 mph.
Wood also hit Alick Athanaze on the helmet when the left-hander was on a score of forty eight, but Athanaze returned to punch eighty two runs out of one seven five partnership he built with Hodge.
Hodge remarked, “One time I was playing around with him (Wood), I said ‘hey, I have a wife and children waiting for me at home!’
“Then he began laughing and that made it more rewarding getting those hundreds.
“Test cricket is brutal; it is tough; it is viscera ripper. By going through that facing guys like Mark Wood, it was hard but satisfying.”
The thirty-one year old added: “Some guys got hit but it’s part of Test cricket. Kudos to Alick.” He came back strongly and went further than that. I flinched; I thought before that ball that I would be hit.”
However this relentless pace on a good batting pitch finally wore down Wood, whose career has been plagued by injury.
The fast bowler left the field before the close of play on Friday suffering from cramp and a wicketless return of 0-51 from 14.1 overs that did not reflect his determination and skill.
“Surprisingly he’s never had cramp,” said England assistant coach Paul Collingwood. “I think it’s just a bit of tiredness, hopefully.”
“He was certainly stretching his hamstring so I’m assuming it’s in there somewhere. It’s been a hot day, he’s put all his effort into every ball. But he had a smile on his face at the end.”
The former England all-rounder added: “It was brilliant to watch Woody throw himself into every single spell with everything he had got, reaching speeds of up to 97mph; that is what we want in Test cricket.”
