England's rainy T20 World Cup preparations are "not ideal," according to Mark Wood

Mark Wood has acknowledged that England's T20 World Cup preparations have been "not ideal," given that the team's first three warm-up matches against Pakistan were postponed due to inclement weather. Both teams are far from battle-ready going into their final meeting at the Oval on Thursday and their transatlantic journeys the following day.

Before the 2022 event, which took place in Australia, England participated in a seven-game series in Pakistan, three matches against the hosts (including one in Perth, which is also the location of their first World Cup match), and one last practice match against Pakistan. They won the championship after going through an 11-game preparation and finishing their foreign journey early.

However, this time they have adopted a different strategy and will head to the Caribbean having, at most, played two games together as a team in the previous five months, rather than using it as a model. Four days before their tournament match against Scotland on Tuesday in Barbados, they arrive.

“Some lads have been - playing in the IPL and they’re match-ready,” said Wood, who missed the IPL to ensure his fitness. “The lads that haven’t, is there a freshness? At the IPL you’re playing all the time, other lads have seen your tricks, they’ve seen what you’re doing. I might be going into the ­tournament feeling fresh. I’ve worked on a couple of things in training and you want the games to practise stuff, but it’s a fine balance. One or two of us might feel like we need a game or two to get going, but whatever preparation we get that’s what we’re going to have to go with. There were plenty of games before the last [World Cup], but who’s to say it won’t work the other way around?”

The absence of captain Jos Buttler from the equally washed-out third game to attend his third child's birth and coach Matthew Mott from the opening game at Headingley due to family matters have further complicated preparations.

“Life things are sometimes more important than cricket. Those ­couple of instances were,” Wood said. “I don’t think we should put a negative spin on them. It’s easy to look for excuses: we’ve had people away, the rain, whatever. We’re a professional side, we’re the England cricket team, we’ve got ­everything we need. We should be able to adapt and when we get out there that’s when the time to turn it on is.”

Wood says the group has gotten a lot of good training this week, and they also profited from a session with David Young, Manchester City's first-team sports psychologist. “We’ve been very specific in our training,” he said. “There have been coach-led sessions and player-led sessions. We’ve had bat versus ball, we’ve been challenged against each other in match scenarios, different phases of the game, practising our death bowling against some of our best batters. It’s not ideal when they schedule four games and we might only get one or two. I’m sure they thought the weather might affect one or two, but not as many as it has. It was great we got a run-out [at Edgbaston on Saturday]. Yes, we’ve got the experience, but warmup games always give you a sense of different things you can tinker with.”

Wood did not participate in the match in Edgbaston, but if the play had been allowed at Sophia Gardens on Tuesday when Tom Hartley would have made his T20 debut, he would have been a member of the squad. Even with the more pessimistic predictions, both should be given a shot if Thursday's match goes forward.

“Hopefully, the rain stays away and we get some practice ready for the World Cup,” Wood said. “Whatever comes our way, ultimately it’s that Scotland game we’ve got to be ready for.”