MARK WOOD was faster and more hostile than Jofra Archer as the pair tried to prove they should play in the Third Test.
In a head-to-head bowl off, the fast bowlers cranked up their pace and intensity in the nets and Wood was the clear winner.
Durham speedster Wood, 30, posed more of a threat to batsmen in the firing line as he reached 90mph and struck Joe Denly on the hand.
Archer, 24, was relatively pedestrian and operated in the low 80s.
So it is now almost certainly a contest between Wood and Chris Woakes to replace the injured James Anderson against South Africa on Thursday, with Archer the outsider.
Reliable Woakes is the closest like-for-like substitute for Anderson, who has flown home after breaking a rib on the final day of Englands series-levelling win in the Second Test.
Woakes is also the best batsman of the trio.
Wood has not played a red-ball match since blitzing West Indies with a ferocious spell in St Lucia in February and a game of any sort since the World Cup final on July 14.
He has been recovering from a torn side muscle and knee surgery so playing him here would be a risk but the upside is his explosive speed and match-winning potential.
Archers right arm was heavily strapped as he tries to shake off the elbow problem that caused him to miss Englands victory in Cape Town.
The most impressive piece of bowling in the nets perhaps came from Ben Stokes, who did a passable impression of Mitchell Johnson and fired down an 80mph delivery with his left arm.
WOOD ENOUGH?
Captain Joe Root, recovered from his sickness on Sunday, and head coach Chris Silverwood watched Wood and Archer intently.
England explored the possibility of Wood, Archer and Woakes playing a club match in South Africa but it proved impossible.
Assistant coach Paul Collingwood said: We had a look around for a club game but its not as easy as it sounds.
So weve tried to replicate match action with the boys bowling a lot of overs in the nets as well as running and walking.
Ideally, Woody would have had some competitive games. But Id have no qualms about him coming into the Test and being successful. He has the skills to make an impact.
Jofra is still early in his international career. He hasnt bowled a lot with the Kookaburra ball we use overseas, which requires a completely different skill-set to the Dukes ball at home.
His main skill is bowling 90mph-plus. We have enough bowlers in and around the county circuit who can bowl at 82 to 85 mph.
You want the likes of Wood and Archer to give you that X-factor. We want to see 100 per cent intensity from the bowlers at practice, simple as that.
We have a day off on Tuesday and then a lighter training session on Wednesday, so today was all about busting a gut.
Weve seen bowlers really running in against the batters and making life difficult. If we can do that more often, our education as a team will grow strongly and quickly.
On the spin front, England are likely to stick with Dom Bess.
Original first-choice Jack Leach continues to regain strength and fitness following his severe illness at Christmas and at the end of the New Zealand tour in early December.
