The Ashes 2023: Mark Wood lights up Headingley with thrilling spell of fast bowling

A well-known online encyclopaedia defines a fast bowler as someone who "relies on speed to get a batter out".

Albeit factually correct, that does little to get across the thrill of seeing one of the best in action.

A true fast bowler is cricket's greatest buzz - a rare skill that bends the laws of physics, of human development, and alerts the senses in the middle and in the stands.

Mark Wood bowled the quickest spell in this country for 18 years on day one of the third Ashes, taking an electric 5-34 and the Headingley crowd with him in a must-win contest for England.

When you think of the great Ashes fast bowlers you think of the ferocity of Australian greats like Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee or Jeff Thomson. Or perhaps strapping England quicks like Fred Trueman, Steve Harmison or Andrew Flintoff.

That is not Wood.

He is slight and wiry. He looks more likely to beat you on a cross-country course than knock you over with raw pace.

At training two days ago he caught the eye of a group of journalists in the press box, pointed to where his name would be on his back and gave an angry wave.

It was Wood re-enacting Nasser Hussain's famous gesture during a one-day international against India in 2002 but, unlike Hussain, he soon broke into a smile. Wood is England's joker, the player who helps lift the mood.

But get a ball in his hand, the delicate body in the right place, and Wood has an almost unique skill as an Englishman to captivate with raw pace - an ability to grip an audience with the fascination of an 19th century family seeing an elephant at visiting circus.

"Did you see that? How quick is he">