England quick Mark Wood made a stunning return to action against Pakistan, getting clocked bowling at 97mph as he helped the visitors secure a brilliant 63 run win in the third T20I in Karachi.
It was Wood's first competitive appearance in over six months and he proved just how important express pace is at the top level, picking up 3-24 from his four overs. His unique skills would make him a valuable commodity on the franchise circuit and at the age of 32 and with a history of injury problems, he could be forgiven for wanting to take advantage of the lucrative deals that will inevitably be on offer.
However, Wood says he is "all in with England" and believes he will be "ready to go" for the Test series against Pakistan in December. "One day we will have a conversation [about franchise cricket] but at the moment, I'm all in with England," he said.
"For me England will always come first and if I can fit anything else in then great but from an injury point of view I think it's more a case of where can I get things in and where makes sense. If they want me [for the Tests against Pakistan], I'll be ready to go.
"Having that long lay-off all summer, I felt really tired after four overs. That's mental to think that after four overs I felt rank.
"During the World Cup I'll get more up to speed with the games and stuff like that but during the World Cup, at some point, I'll have to practise with the red ball and try and get my workloads up a little bit to get ready for here. I want to play Test cricket."
During his time on the sidelines, Wood was forced to undergo two operations in order to fix an elbow injury which sidelined him during the Test series against the West Indies in March.
He had his first operation later that same month which "removed bone and scar tissue to address an impingement problem that was causing pain in his elbow when bowling" and made an appearance for boyhood club Ashington in July where he picked up five wickets.
However, Wood struggled to straighten his arm after that match and was forced to undergo a second operation. "I mentioned I felt it more bowling away swing," he explained.
"So when he knocked me out, he was turning my wrist and a ligament kept flapping into my joint all the time. They took all the bits of bone fragment out of my arm but the main problem was this ligament trapped in my joint. So he cut the ligament off and since then it's been fine."
