England pacer Mark Wood says he is “over the moon” after earning a call-up to the squad for the Test series against the Windies.
Wood, who played his last Test against Pakistan in May 2018, has been drafted in as a replacement for the injured Olly Stone, who is out of the tour with a back problem.
“I’m over the moon,” Wood told talkSPORT after earning a Test recall. “Obviously it’s not nice for Stoney. I’ve been in his position when you get injured and somebody else comes in to replace you, but his loss is my gain … Hopefully I can go out there and have a positive impact on the team.”
According to Wood, England will go into the three-Test series as favourites, but cautioned against taking the hosts lightly.
“My first tour was actually to the West Indies with England,” he said, recalling the 2015 tour when he travelled but did not play in any of the three Tests. “Everyone was saying we should roll over them – ‘it will be 3-0’ – but we ended up drawing the series 1-1 and they played some pretty good cricket.
“They always get up for an England series and it will not be as easy as people think. But I certainly do feel we are favourites with the exciting squad we’ve got and the performances we’ve just put in in Sri Lanka.
“It’s not easy to win there, so if we can do that I’m sure we can win in the West Indies.”
