England needed a 'kick up the bum' from Silverwood & Root, says Wood
England needed a ‘kick up the bum’ from Chris Silverwood and Joe Root, believes Mark Wood as bowler insists tourists remain united and are ‘just desperate to play better than we are’ having gone 2-0 down in Ashes series
- England are staring at an Ashes series defeat as they trail 2-0 in the best-of-five
- After losing in Adelaide, Joe Root was critical of England’s bowling lengths
- Root omitted Mark Wood from the second Test but he should play in Melbourne
Mark Wood has admitted England deserved their ‘kick up the bum’ from Chris Silverwood and Joe Root after defeat in the second Test defeat – but insisted there was no tension between the bowlers and the batsmen after the captain criticised the tactics of his attack.
Wood was controversially omitted at Adelaide, with England instead preferring Chris Woakes, who finished with match figures of one for 149. But he said he had been ready to play – and is now hoping to feature in the crucial third Test at Melbourne starting on Boxing Day, which England must win to stay in the series.
Injuries earlier this year to Jofra Archer and Olly Stone shredded their plans to hit Australia with pace, leaving Wood as the last 90mph speed merchant still standing. And there was widespread disbelief here when he wasn’t picked at Adelaide – despite troubling Australia’s batsmen at Brisbane, where his three wickets included Steve Smith, caught behind for 12.
Mark Wood says England got the needed ‘kick up the bum’ from Joe Root and Chris Silverwood
Root (left) and Silverwood (right) held a debrief where England can improve in the Ashes
Assuming he is selected at the MCG, Wood is determined to bear in mind the words of the coach, captain and even vice-captain Ben Stokes after England slumped to a 275-run defeat on Monday.
‘We probably needed it, a brutally honest discussion at the end of the game in the dressing room,’ said Wood. ‘Chris Silverwood spoke and put some footage up. Stokesy and Rooty spoke honestly to the group about things we felt weren’t going well and what we’d do better. It was a conversation that isn’t usual for us.
‘It was a kick up the bum to say, look, we are 2–0 down now, and the same mistakes keep on happening. It was a good discussion.’
Wood played down the suggestion of an age-old batsmen/bowlers split in the camp after Root – who has now dropped to second in the ICC Test rankings behind Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne – singled out the length his seamers had hit at Adelaide. So far in this series, England’s batsmen have managed totals of 147, 297, 236 and 192, with consideration being given to handing Zak Crawley an Ashes debut in place of one of the openers, Rory Burns or Haseeb Hameed.
Jonny Bairstow could also come in for Ollie Pope, who has made three single-figure scores since starting with 35 at Brisbane, and has struggled against the off-spin of Nathan Lyon.
‘As a bowling group we can always get better,’ said Wood. ‘I just feel like with the batting, as we discussed in the meeting, these heavy collapses we keep having is what is costing us Test matches.
‘But it doesn’t feel that it’s a batters v bowlers thing, with all the batters in one corner giving snidey talk about the bowlers, and all the bowlers in the other corner snidey-talking about the batters. It’s not like that. We’re just desperate to play better than we are. We’re all in it together.’
Root has criticised his senior stars for bowling too short after England’s Ashes humiliation
Australia celebrate the winning moment as they beat England to take a 2-0 lead in the series
Wood says he says he is ready to build on an impressive overseas record, which – unusually for an English bowler – is better than his record at home. While nine away Tests have brought him 32 wickets at 24 each, including both his five-fors, in St Lucia and Johannesburg, 13 games in England have produced 35 wickets at over 40, with a best of three for 51.
He is also determined to move on from the stereotype that his body can’t handle successive Tests – despite winning only 22 caps since his debut against New Zealand six and a half years ago.
‘I’ve tried to get that stigma away from me, where I can’t play back-to-back games,’ he said. ‘I have tried my best over the last couple of years with my fitness – trying to keep my speed above 90mph on average, and make sure I’m performing well.
‘Five Tests in a row – I don’t know if I could have stood up to that. But I was certainly going to try, if selected, and it will be the same with the last three games. Hopefully my body holds up. It’s a constant conversation with physio, doctor, head coach and captain, trying to minimise risk.’
Meanwhile, the chief executive of the MCG Stuart Fox has played down fears the Boxing Day Test could act as a Covid super-spreader event, with 70,000 spectators expected on the first day.
The number of positive cases has risen sharply in the state of Victoria since omicron was first detected in Australia, but Fox encouraged fans to wear mask in congested areas of the ground, and insisted: ‘We’ve got a good handle on it. We’re confident we’ll get through a game of cricket.’
Wood is expected to play in the must-win third Ashes Test after being omitted for Adelaide
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