Durham head coach Jon Lewis is confident that Mark Wood will not follow in the footsteps of his England team-mates Adil Rashid and Alex Hales by committing to a white-ball only contract at county level.
Rashid and Hales made headlines for their decision to pen deals with Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire respectively for only 50 and 20-over cricket.
Wood played an essential part in England’s success with the white ball during the winter in their one-day international series wins against Australia and New Zealand.
The 28-year-old’s form was recognised by the Chennai Super Kings for the 2018 Indian Premier League season. Wood is one of eight England players that were selected during the auction process.
Despite a number of injury problems and his rise to prominence in the limited-overs arena, Lewis is adamant that Wood still sees his future playing all forms of the game – and there was further evidence of that overnight in New Zealand, as he took two for 80 in 18 overs in a warm-up game which gives him the chance to stake a claim for a Test recall.
Lewis said: “I spoke to Mark briefly during the winter. One of the last long conversations I had with him, he was adamant that he was a Test bowler and that’s where he wanted to prove himself.
“I would be surprised if he was to change his mind soon. Maybe when he gets into his thirties and a bit deeper into his career he might think about it. I would be surprised if he was thinking about it this season.
“I was very pleased with his performances in the one-dayers; he obviously brought a lot to the team. He’s improved a lot as a white-ball bowler, he understands his role very well.
“I think he did pretty well considering how long he was out of international cricket to reach the standards that he reached so quickly. Now the IPL is heavily on the radar for him.”
Wood’s injury problems prevented him from playing a part in the Ashes, although he was included in the squad ahead of the third Test in Perth after initially missing out.
However, Lewis feels that missing the 4-0 drubbing may have been best for the 28-year-old’s confidence and fitness as he worked his way back to form.
Lewis added: “Mark would probably admit that he didn’t have enough cricket behind him to have played the first Test or have been selected for the squad. When he played the last Championship game we thought they wanted him to play that with a view to being selected in the squad.
“Having been drawn into the Ashes there was a part of me thinking, this series isn’t going great, it might not be the worst thing if you don’t get involved.
“I’m looking to protect Mark as much as I can in some ways. But there was a bit of me thinking yes it would be great – looking at the WACA that was the one venue they could have stuck a player with pace in there.”
Wood could make his return to Test action against New Zealand when the series begins on 22 March in Auckland.
Durham have a series of two-day games starting in early March, and also have the benefit of a longer match against Durham MCCU before starting their Specsavers County Championship campaign against Kent on April 20.