Chris Wood is a left-arm fast-medium bowler and right-handed batter.
He was born in Basingstoke, Hampshire and is the Club’s leading T20 wicket taker.
Having made appearances for England’s Under 19 squad in the years prior, Wood began the 2010 season on a development contact. He was given the chance to play regular First XI cricket as senior players were hit by injury, especially in limited-overs fixtures.
He relished the opportunity, establishing himself as Hampshire's leading 40-over wicket taker, and his 20 wickets in the T20 campaign represented the second-best haul ever in a season for Hampshire as they won their first title.
In 2011, he continued his good form for the Club, once again ending the CB40 campaign as the leading wicket-taker and forging a more permanent place in the four-day side.
Wood showed he was quickly becoming a genuine all-rounder in 2012 when he scored his maiden First-Class hundred against Leicestershire at Grace Road, then – the following day – held his nerve in a tense final over of the Friends Life T20 Final to give Hampshire victory at the SWALEC Stadium in Cardiff.
Despite an injury-plagued couple of seasons for Hampshire, Wood returned to his best at the end of the 2014 summer, picking up 15 wickets in just four County Championship matches, whilst the seamer demonstrated his limited-overs skills once again the following season, topping the club's T20 bowling averages on the way to a Finals Day appearance.
The left-armer underwent surgery in May 2016 after sustaining a knee injury and it was announced soon after the operation that he would be out of action for the rest of the season.
Wood impressed for the Second XI with both bat and ball on his return throughout 2017 whilst proving to be as essential as ever to the First XI’s bowling-attack in T20 cricket, playing an important role in helping Hampshire reach a seventh Finals Day.
He enjoyed an excellent campaign in 2018 as his experience with ball-in-hand helped his side secure Royal London Cup glory, before a 19-wicket return in the Vitality Blast competition saw him finish in the top 10 wicket-takers in the country that summer.
In 2020, Wood retired from red-ball cricket to focus fully on the shorter forms of the game and was instrumental in helping Hampshire to another T20 Finals Day the following year, forming a great opening partnership with Brad Wheal.
His influence in the T20 side continued in 2022 with 21 wickets throughout the competition, including that of dangerous Lancashire opener Phil Salt in the final, as the Hawks won a remarkable third title in dramatic fashion.
Wood again played his part in the 2023 Vitality Blast, with 15 wickets representing another solid campaign. The Hawks fell short of winning consecutive titles, but recorded a record tenth appearance to T20 Finals Day.
Overall, Wood has the second most T20 appearances for Hampshire (173) and has taken the most wickets for the Club in the format (186).
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