England's Mark Wood bowls a delivery on day two of the first Ashes cricket test match between Australia and England in Perth, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025.(AP Photo/Gary Day)England pacer Mark Wood considered driving all the way from Perth to Brisbane, a distance that could easily have been 4000km, after England lost the first Ashes Test at the Optus Stadium within two days. Wood, who is a nervous flyer, suddenly found himself with three extra days after the early end of the 1st Test. The Englishman explored the option of making the drive but was talked out of it as quickly as the thought appeared.
“If I could drive across the country, I would,” said the 35-year-old, speaking to former teammate Stuart Broad on the For The Love Of Cricket podcast. “I did speak to a local who said if you go across the country, that’s a big danger. So you’d have to drive around the coast. But I did look at it,” said Wood.
Wood spoke about the loss suffered by England in the first Test and said that while the result didn’t go his country’s way, they did a few things right and the result shouldn’t take away from their overall performance. England were quick to dismiss Australia in the first innings but fell to a rapid Travis Head century in the second innings.
“I feel we know this is one of five [Tests]. There has to be a reflection of what has gone on but also to know that we did some good things and we take those into the next game. We have been hit hard in round one but we have more rounds to throw some back.”
Wood also made it clear that he believed in the England bowling unit’s ability to make this a competitve Ashes tour. The English picked up Australia’s batting in the first innings but Travis Head’s quickfire century in the second innings turned the game around for the hosts.
“I definitely feel this team has 20 wickets in it – the makeup of the team has been designed to take 20 wickets in these conditions,” Wood said. “As a bowling group, we can take a lot of confidence from that game and it being a day-night Test in Brisbane, we know around night time we can zip it around. And if we zip around at pace, that can make it difficult.
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