On Friday, July 19, Mark Wood made a dramatic entrance into England’s Test team during the second Test against the West Indies at Trent Bridge.

Wood, who wasn’t part of the squad for the first Test as he was given time to recover from the T20 World Cup, was finally brought into the team for this match. With James Anderson retiring, Wood was added straight into the playing XI. He made an impressive comeback, with every ball of his first over clocking well above 90 mph.

Woakes and Atkinson started the bowling for England, covering the first nine overs before captain Ben Stokes brought Wood in. Though he didn’t take a wicket in his first over, he made a strong impression.

Wood Sets New Record for Fastest Over by an England Bowler

In that over, Wood’s six deliveries were all over 92 mph, including one at 96.5 mph. By the end of the over, he had set a new record for the fastest over by an England bowler at home. But Wood didn’t stop there he went on to bowl an even faster third over, with all deliveries over 93 mph and one reaching 97 mph.

As for the match, the West Indies got off to a solid start with openers Kraigg Brathwaite and Mikyle Louis putting on 53 runs for the first wicket. Shoaib Bashir broke their stand by dismissing Louis for 21. At the time of writing, the West Indies were 74 for 1 in response to England’s first innings total of 416.

England captain Ben Stokes is now the third player in history to reach 200 wickets and 6,000 runs in Test cricket.

This summer, Stokes, who has fully returned to bowling, dismissed Kirk McKenzie for a duck with his third ball in the second innings, achieving his 200th wicket. McKenzie reviewed the decision, but it was confirmed to be hitting the stumps.

Stokes among elite all-rounders

Stokes joins Sir Garfield Sobers and Jacques Kallis as the only men to reach this milestone. He followed his wicket maiden with two more maidens and took his 201st wicket in his fourth over by getting Mikyle Louis caught behind for 14.

Earlier, Stokes added four runs to his total, bringing his tally to 6,316 runs in Test cricket for England. Gudakesh Motie bowled him in the morning session.

Ben Stokes bowling comeback

Stokes still has some catching up to do. Sobers has 8,032 runs and 235 wickets, while Kallis boasts an impressive 13,289 runs and 292 wickets.

Stokes was born in New Zealand and took his 100th wicket against India in August 2018. His return to bowling after knee surgery has been a significant boost for the England Test team.