Mark Wood's pivotal five-wicket haul on the final day of England's 3-0 Test sweep against West Indies comes as a belated reward for his gut-busting work throughout the series, captain Ben Stokes says.
Having missed the first Test, Wood's memorable spell of searing pace in the second at Trent Bridge netted him just two wickets for the match, but an incisive six-over spell after lunch on the third day at Edgbaston swung the match entirely in England's favour, quite literally. His combination of pace and reverse-swing saw him take West Indies' last five wickets in the space of 21 balls and gave him figures of 5 for 40 from 14 overs, to add to his 2 for 52 from West Indies' first innings.
It also meant England needed just 82 runs in their second innings to win the match, Stokes's unbeaten 57 off 28 balls and Ben Duckett's 25 off 16 taking them past the target in just 7.2 overs for a 10-wicket victory.
"The rewards that he got there I think was sort of later than he actually deserved to get them," Stokes said of Wood at the post-match presentation. "The effort that he always puts in when he wears his England shirt is just phenomenal. He's got the heart of a lion and that little 45 minutes to an hour period there when he had the ball is exactly what you want as a captain.
"Fast, extremely skilful, and he really blew the game open there for us, but he was just phenomenal. I'm just extremely happy for him. He definitely deserved more than what he got, but it's great to see him walk off with a five-for."
Player of the Match Wood admitted his haul came as a "bit of relief".
"At lunchtime I was down and frustrated, but I focused on the skills side of things," Wood said. "The first wicket got me in the game, gave a lot of confidence and I went from there. I think you have to adapt to the conditions. My role in the team is to bowl fast. Hopefully I can do that for the rest of the summer."
But Stokes emphasised Wood's importance to the team.
"Woody knows how much he affects the game from the other end," Stokes said. "He might not always get the rewards bowling as fast as he does and as skilful as he does. He puts so much pressure onto the two guys out in the middle, and it might be the other bloke who gets the wicket at the other end. That spell this afternoon was just phenomenal. It just looked like he was going to take a wicket every ball and obviously when the ball's reverse swinging at 93 miles an hour, it's definitely going to be a lot harder."
Stokes was also delighted with England Player of the Series Gus Atkinson who took 22 wickets at an average of 16.22 for the series, which comprised the first three matches of his fledgling Test career, and with Jamie Smith, who fell five runs shy of a maiden century in England's first innings at Edgbaston, playing just his third Test after scoring 70 on debut at Lord's. Smith's 95 in Birmingham was crucial after England had stumbled to 54 for 5 in their first innings.
"Gus and Jamie, what a first series in international cricket for those two," Stokes said. "Gus's debut just couldn't have gone any better, taking 12 in the game, but I think even then he's just improved every single spell he's come on.
"He's been exposed to different conditions from Lords, slightly flatter wickets where it's easier for batting, and then this week, slower wicket, but the ball started to reverse and he showed the skills he had there. It's great to be able to throw the ball to two guys who have high pace, but with extreme skill.
"Jamie Smith, I know he's played some exceptional knocks, but as a keeper, you want to be unnoticed and I think behind the stumps he's been absolutely exceptional. He's grown into that number seven role without any experience whatsoever, and he's just filtered into this team absolutely perfect. I'm really happy for those two."
Stokes also acknowledged that England's performances in this series marked a refinement of their Bazball ethos, even if scoring 87 off just 44 balls in the run-chase harked back to its earlier incarnations.
"You look at where we were in this game, we were 50 for 5," Stokes said. "Eighteen months, or two years ago, we might have responded to that situation in sort of a one-dimensional way, but now every person who goes out when we're under the pressure knows what's expected of them and what's expected of them is to go out there and play what best suits them to assess the situation. Always obviously looking to put pressure back onto the opposition, but just being smart with your choices.
"I don't think we should underestimate this win as a side, but also as fans. West Indies put up a pretty decent total. We were 50 for 5 and then to come back and win in three days, I think that's absolutely exceptional and it's credit to where the team has progressed from when me and Brendon [McCullum] had taken over. So this is a very, very good win."
One down side for England was the news that Zak Crawley had suffered a fractured finger while fielding earlier in the day. The injury paved the way for Stokes to smash the fastest fifty by an England Test batter opening in his place but the longer term impact was unknown amid suggestions Crawley may have to undergo surgery.