Luke Wood grasps latest chance on wet night in Cardiff

Not all England caps are equal, and Luke Wood would have been under no illusions that his 10th across formats on Wednesday evening was, essentially, as a fall guy. And yet, with 2 for 22 from his two overs, he left the first T20I against South Africa with something worthwhile.

After enough Cardiff deluges for three rainbows and a start delayed by two hours and 20 minutes, England called an audible on the XI they had announced on Tuesday. The outfield was deemed too saturated for Jofra Archer; a four-year journey back to all formats has been physically, emotionally and financially taxing enough to not be worth what became a forgettable defeat across 12.5 overs at a slip-and-slide Sophia Gardens.

"I wouldn't run my horse around here in this type of weather, let alone my premium fast bowlers," former England limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan joked. The current one, Harry Brook agreed: "It would have been stupid to play him." And thus, as uncouth as it may sound, wiser to risk Wood.

Brook, aligned with head coach Brendon McCullum, made the decision to park Archer as soon as the match was set to be reduced. It meant Wood had under two hours to prepare. Such was the regularity of showers throughout the day, it would have only been when the left-arm seamer had the ball in his hand at 8.50pm, ready to kick things off from the River Taff End, that he would have known there was actual work to be done.

He removed Ryan Rickleton with his second ball, a late away-swinger drawing an edge through to Jos Buttler. Lhuan-dre Pretorius was pocketed with his penultimate one, rushing the batter into an ungainly hack that required an acrobatic effort from Brook at mid-off. He should have had Aiden Markram on 24, when Phil Salt spilled a far simpler catch at cow corner; Wood then held on to dismiss Markram off Adil Rashid an over later.

Brook, clearly exhausted at the end of a long night of an already long summer, lauded Wood's efforts: "He didn't have much time to prepare, but he went out and did a good job with the new ball, as he always does."

It was a sincere appraisal from Brook, more so than his intimation at the toss that Wood's inclusion was on tactical grounds for what initially began as a nine-over affair. The 30-year-old may have been collateral, but he was the only England player to inflict any real damage on their opponents.

This is a fascinating period in Wood's career, one which the man himself had assumed would be without any international requirements. His participation in the West Indies T20Is at the start of this season could hardly be termed a recall given his previous seven appearances in 2022 and 2023 came, much like Wednesday, as a seat filler for the A-listers. Even his inclusion for May and June's ODIs against West Indies was the result of Archer-related caution.

There is a lot to like about Wood; quick enough, always finding movement through the air, and doing so immediately. Rickleton was the 11th batter he has removed in the first over of a T20 in 2025 alone - only fellow English leftie David Willey has more (14).

Wood is also not shy of a bit of confrontation. These traits were brought to the fore in Brook's second match as T20I captain in June, with a player-of-the-match display of 2 for 25. It was reminiscent of Wood's T20I debut in Pakistan back in 2022, another award-winning turn of 3 for 24.

Such was the impression Wood made that there were unofficial, idle thoughts that he could come into contention for the India Test series had England encountered a handful more injuries to their already depleted fast bowling stocks. His last first-class match came in September 2023, one of two County Championship appearances for Lancashire that season. But as was the case with Jamie Overton this summer, a lack of red-ball experience might not have precluded Wood from selection.

Overton has since made himself unavailable for Test cricket ahead of the Ashes to prolong his career in the shorter formats. Though Wood need not make any official statements, having never earned a Test call-up, his winter has already been hitched to the franchise circuit with Dubai Capitals in the ILT20, which runs from December 2 to January 4. It is worth noting that since the 2023 home summer, Wood's 72 matches since have been exclusively in the T20 format

Nevertheless, the remaining two matches against South Africa, next week's jaunt to Ireland and October's tour of New Zealand will present Wood further opportunities to press his case for 2026's T20 World Cup squad. Having been on the periphery for England's success in 2022, as a late replacement on the reserve shortlist, he may finally be considered first-string.

On an otherwise treacherous night that Brook regarded as "a bit of a shambles", Wood was able to emerge unscathed and better for it.