Mark Wood has told talkSPORT he is delighted with his call-up to England’s squad for the tour of the West Indies.
However, the fast bowler insists their three Tests will not be as straightforward as many think.
Wood is flying out as a replacement for the injured Olly Stone, who has been ruled out with a back injury.
The Durham man travels to the Caribbean 15 years after fellow Ashington-born bowler Steve Harmison starred with a memorable 23-wicket haul in four matches out there in 2004.
And Wood has told talkSPORT he hopes to emulate the former England man after his late call-up to the side.
“I’m over the moon,” the 29-year-old said on Friday’s Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast.
“Obviously it’s not nice for Stoney. I’ve been in his position when you get injured and somebody else comes in to replace you, but his loss is my gain.
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“Hopefully I can go out there and have a positive impact on the team.
“Harmy set a pretty high standard as a lad from Ashington, so I’m going to have to do pretty well to beat him.
“But I’m really looking forward to it.”
England are firm favourites for the series win after their impressive 3-0 victory in Sri Lanka in November.
And while Wood is confident of success, he insists the Windies will provide a tougher test than many give them credit for.
“My first tour was actually to the West Indies with England,” he continued, “and everyone was saying we should roll over them – ‘it will be 3-0’ – but we ended up drawing the series 1-1 and they played some pretty good cricket.
“They always get up for an England series and it will not be as easy as people think.
“But I certainly do feel we are favourites with the exciting squad we’ve got and the performances we’ve just put in in Sri Lanka.
“It’s not easy to win there, so if we can do that I’m sure we can win in the West Indies.”
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