He was a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-fast bowler who played for Griqualand West, Durham and Lancashire in a twelve-year career.
Wood began his cricketing career in 1990, when he played various cup competitions in South Africa, before he made his County Championship debut in England during the 1992 season.
He was only an intermittent starter during the following season, after some expensive bowling, though he hit his first half-century, in the first innings of the first Championship match he took part in, against Nottinghamshire.
Wood spent most of the 1995 season out of the game, making just three County Championship appearances, and did not reclaim a first-team place until 1998, during which he took two five-wicket innings, despite not performing at his peak with the bat.
In nearly twelve years in first-class cricket, Wood remained a lower-order batsman, with frequently devastating spells of bowling to counter his low batting average.