Fast bowler Mark Wood stated that he looks back on his performance during England's recent Ashes campaign with "shame," admitting he was not physically ready for the series. Wood had spent 16 months without playing Test cricket leading up to the Ashes due to elbow and knee injuries. His only preparation before the series was a limited eight-over warm-up game due to hamstring tightness.
"I look back at it from a personal point of view that I was nowhere near ready," Wood said. "Coming to Perth my knee probably wasn't right, and then my hamstring – I've never had a hamstring problem in my whole career. I think the hamstring was over-compensating for my knee, protecting my knee, and that's why it got tight."
Wood also acknowledged the intense scrutiny the team faced, both on and off the field. He recalled instances of players being followed by media and reporters approaching them directly. The pressure, he noted, created a "huge pressure cooker" environment within the squad, leading to more heated discussions than he had experienced previously.
"This shouldn't be an excuse. The main problem is we didn't play well," Wood added.
Further contributing to the off-field narrative was a mid-tour holiday in Noosa, where some players' drinking habits drew criticism. Wood, who is teetotal, stated he would not have engaged in such behavior himself, not out of self-righteousness, but due to how it might be perceived. He emphasized that while he made his own choices, others were grown men responsible for their own career detriment.
The team's penchant for playing golf during downtime also came under fire, with suggestions that it detracted from training. Wood, who does not play golf, felt the perception of this activity was worse than the reality. He suggested that golf provided bonding opportunities and a mental break from tour pressures, though he conceded the public perception was negative.
Instead of golf, Wood said he preferred to explore the local surroundings. "I liked to get away and see where we were staying. You'd often fly into a place, see a hotel, or fly out. I'd often grab Mark Saxby, the masseur, or Chris Woakes and we would go to a coffee shop, or find somewhere."