Wood, who has 13 wickets at 20.38 across the three Tests he has played in this series, bowled only three of the 38 overs that Australia faced in reaching 135 for 0 in pursuit of 384 and was not introduced by Ben Stokes until the second session of a day that was shortened due to rain.
“I think pretty much like everybody, there’s little aches and pains that are going off the back of a big five-Test series,” Trescothick said at the close. “Both teams will be travelling in the same way at the moment. But yeah, everyone is fit to bowl. It was a tactical decision.”
One of the drawbacks of England’s attacking style with the bat is that their bowlers have had a substantially higher workload than Australia’s across this series. They have already bowled 841.3 overs across the five Tests, 193.4 overs more than Australia – and with more to come on Monday.
Di Venuto admitted some surprise at England’s use of Wood. “I’m not sure of those tactics,” he said. “Whether he is carrying an injury, whether he can only bowl a certain amount of overs, I’m not sure. There was some spin, so [I was] not surprised to see the two offspinners wheeling away at one end.”
“He’s OK,” Trescothick said. “You saw him bowl today. He’s obviously had the little niggle that he’s got. He’s obviously had a bit of rest and put his feet up. It’s not 100% – of course it’s not. It’s not going to be probably for two or three weeks from now, but we’ve got a little bit out of him and will continue to try to do that again tomorrow.”
Trescothick also believes that the ball change that took place shortly before rain intervened – after the first ball of the 37th over, when Wood’s bouncer struck Khawaja on the helmet – could have a bearing on the outcome. “I think it was just a bit harder,” he said. “That was the difference.
“Immediately, there’s a bit more life in it. Balls seem to have gone very soft very fast in this game – and this series. Both captains have tried to change them on numerous occasions. Whether it makes any difference, the rain coming down and saving it for tomorrow, who knows?”
“There are a lot of guys who have been on Ashes series over here in the past and haven’t managed to win, and 20 [22] years is a long time. We’re in a great position for some of the boys to get that on their résumé; we’re all pretty keen to score those 250 runs tomorrow.”
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