Hampshire seamer Chris Wood tells Chris Airey he’s optimistic the club will bounce back after their County Championship relegation last season under new captain Jimmy Adams.
Last season you finished as Hampshire’s leading wicket-taker in the CB40 and picked up 24 Championship wickets. Were you pleased with how the season went from a personal point of view?
It was a nice achievement, it was the second year in a row that I took the most CB40 wickets and I got a good opportunity to play in both one-day competitions. I was lucky enough to get wickets and do well. It was quite hard to get into the Championship side as we had such a big squad and a lot of competition for places with big names like Simon Jones and Dominic Cork. So for a young lad like me it was always going to be a difficult season to break into the four-day side and I was just happy to get as many games as I did. I think in the end I played the last nine, and that was almost more than I expected, really.
But it must have been a difficult season from a team perspective?
Yeah, it was very hard but at the end of the day we have put that behind us and now it is a new beginning. We have a much smaller squad this year with a new captain in Jimmy Adams. We have a lot of young players as well as some experienced old heads. It’s a new era here now and we hope to get back into the first division as soon as possible.
How will the retirement of Dominic Cork affect the team?
Personally for me he was a great inspiration. He’d been around, played Test cricket and was a guy you could go up to ask for advice and you knew what he said would help you. He was on the pitch for the majority of the games I played so if I were ever struggling, he would be the first person I’d go to. But it’s a new era now and there are opportunities for young players to get into the side. I don’t think it will be a massive issue as we have players who can come in and do as good a job.
You scored some handy runs last season. Do you think of yourself as an allrounder?
Most of my teammates would probably say that I was a bowler who can bat but I’d like to count myself as an allrounder and hopefully this season I can change their opinions. If my batting performances improve that will also give me a better opportunity to break into the Championship side.
How have your preparations for the new county season gone?
I had a slight setback because I had a bad back at the end of last season and I’ve been doing rehab for the last three months to try and get fit. I’ve only recently got back into training now. I had planned to go away to Adelaide, I potentially had the chance to go over Christmas, but those plans got destroyed because of my back. I decided to stay here because we have great facilities at The Rose Bowl with an indoor centre and the gym so it just made sense really. I can just come in everyday and do what I want to get back fit again.
You’ve represented England at under 19 level. Is breaking into the full side your ultimate ambition?
First and foremost my aim is to have another good year with Hampshire and I would like to think that, like any young lad playing county cricket, I can go on to play for England, either in one-day or Test cricket. The Test squad looks pretty settled for what could be about five years but I would like to get a chance with the England Lions and hopefully prove myself at that standard.
Click here to read more from Chris Airey at Boundary Magazine and visit Hampshire’s website for more from Chris Wood
