England handed boost as Mark Wood and Dawid Malan train ahead of final

GEORGE DOBELL IN MELBOURNE: It's too early to say both are available for selection for the final. They will be assessed again on Sunday morning to see if there have been any adverse reaction to the sessions

England have been given a boost on the eve of the World Cup final by an encouraging showing in training from Mark Wood and Dawid Malan.

Less than 24 hours after the coach, Matthew Mott, suggested both men would be unlikely to make the game, they came through fitness tests with encouraging ease.

Wood was especially impressive. After reporting no ill-effects to some sprints on the outfield at the MCG, he started bowling at somewhere around half pace in the nets. A few minutes later, though, he was charging in and bowled around two overs at full pace.

Malan also came through the fitness test on the outfield. He then batted in the nets and looked comfortable.

It's too early to say both are available for selection for the final. They will be assessed again on Sunday morning to see if there have been any adverse reaction to the sessions.

The potential availability of Wood and Malan might create some difficult selection decisions for the England management. Phil Salt, who replaced Malan for the semi-final, continues to impress in the nets and might be seen as the more aggression option in any case.

But Malan is the highest-rated England batter in the men's T20I rankings – he is sixth – and, against an attack blessed with huge pace and skill, might be better equipped to deal with the threat posed by Shaheen Afridi and co. If he was deemed completely fit and able to contribute fully in the field, he would probably win selection.

^{Dawid Malan suffered his injury in the field when England beat Sri Lanka (Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)}

Wood, meanwhile, has been the fastest bowler in the tournament and offers the prospect of real bite in the middle overs. But England will be reluctant to take any sort of risk with him and his replacement in the semi-final, Chris Jordan, acquitted himself well in Adelaide. Among other things, Jordan bowled three overs at the death, which Wood rarely does. He was highly impressive in the nets, though, and may well have made a persuasive argument for his selection.

Mott has previously hinted that he would be loathe to take any risks with injury, especially as he has such confidence in the replacement players.

"It is a real risk taking injured players into big games," Mott said the previous day. "And I think you can really regret that. Particularly when you've got players that can come in and do a good job.

"Sometimes you gamble when you don't have that depth. But when you've got players that are capable of doing a role I think it makes the decision a lot easier. Everything would have to go right for them to be available at the moment."

Jos Buttler, the England captain, suggested Malan and Wood would be given "every chance" to prove their fitness. While the toss is due to take place at 6.30pm in Melbourne, there is a possibility that it takes place 24 hours later due to rain, meaning England would not need to name a team for some time.

"They're both improving," he said. "It's not too many days since they weren't fit enough for the semi-final, but we'll give them every chance possible."

^{Jos Buttler and Matthew Mott have decisions to make (Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)}

Not all went smoothly for England win training, though. Paul Collingwood sustained a nasty blow to the head when Ben Stokes, who was batting particularly well, hit one that flew through the gap in the top and netting and struck him on the forehead. After treatment, Collingwood continued providing throwdowns while wearing a helmet.

England were also afforded only the briefest of looks at the pitch as it was kept under cover for most of the day. It is, once again, a used surface having been in action for both for the India-Pakistan and India-Zimbabwe games. That means that, had India reached the final, they would have played on the same surface twice previously.

This is also England's third scheduled game at the ground, albeit on a different surface. The only match they completed here to date, though, was the rain affected defeat at the hands of Ireland. Buttler, though, believes the experience of that game may help England if the weather intervenes again.

"Obviously the Ireland match is a big disappointment for us as a team," Buttler said. "But I think we will have learnt quite a few lessons throughout that game and actually the lead-up into the game. The weather around Melbourne was dominating the whole tournament at that stage and was sort of a distraction at times.

"We know the areas we were short. That definitely hurt us. I think we've seen a reaction to that game in the rest of the cricket we've played so far."

Related Topics

• Alex Hales makes up for lost time: "It's a chance I didn't think would come around again"
• Matthew Mott: England likely to be without Dawid Malan and Mark Wood for final