England’s veteran fast bowler James Anderson has showered praise on Mark Wood, likening him to former veteran pacer Darren Gough. Wood, who was added to the third Ashes Test, made an instant impact for the visitors in the ongoing series.

The gun fast bowler returned with impressive figures of 5-34 in the first innings and played a key role in skittling out Australia for 263 runs. The right-arm pacer accounted for Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Alex Carey, and Todd Murphy.

Moreover, Wood scored a quickfire cameo of 24 runs off just eight balls in the first innings to change the impetus of the game. The 33-year-old also picked two wickets in the second essay and then added the finishing touches to the target of 251 runs with an 8-ball 16. Ergo, he was awarded Player of the Match for his all-round performances.

“It was brilliant to see Mark Wood bowl so well. We love him in the dressing room. He brings so much energy to the group. He is just non-stop chatting and being silly, trying to make people laugh. He loves bowling fast. He reminds me of Darren Gough in that he likes a glance up at the scoreboard to see if they have put his pace up after he has bowled a ball. He just wants to bowl quickly. He was born to bowl quickly,” James Anderson wrote in his column for The Telegraph.

Anderson also hailed Wood’s batting contribution as he made a total of 40 runs in the match and helped England in getting back into the game, especially in the first innings.

“His bowling helped his batting too. That 24 off eight balls made a real difference in that moment of the game. It was almost like a T20 impact. He did the same in the second innings. When bowlers go short like that and you need only 20 runs you know that even a top edge is going to go for six and make a big dent in the target. That is what he did,” Anderson added.

The fourth Ashes Test will be played at Old Trafford from 19th July onwards.