Mark Wood’s Ashes comeback looks set to pause almost as soon as it began. England’s fastest bowler did the hard bit – getting himself fit for the series opener in Perth – but, barring a late change of heart, he will be wrapped in cotton-wool for Thursday’s day-night Test at the Gabba.
England have been here before with Wood. He is the bowler who can hit 150kph on demand yet, at 35 and with a left knee that needs layers of strapping, he is also the bowler they fear losing for good if they push too hard. No surprise, then, that he was absent from Saturday’s first training session at Allan Border Field. The message coming out of the camp is simple: keep him fresh for the longer stretch of the series.
Wood himself hinted at this approach before a ball was bowled. Speaking to Fox Cricket during the first Test, he admitted he would “definitely not play five”. That first Test was over in two days, a bruising eight-wicket defeat that left England 1-0 down. Wood bowled only 11 overs, nought for 44, but still managed the ball of the match – a 93mph bouncer that thudded into Cameron Green’s grille. Pace is not the problem. Longevity is.
The back-story explains the caution. Wood had knee surgery in March to repair medial-ligament damage, then felt his left hamstring tighten during the warm-up game at Lilac Hill. He proved his fitness in Perth’s nets, played, and now England are determined that his first competitive outing in nine months does not become his last of this tour.
Assuming Wood sits out, the next cab off the rank is Josh Tongue. The Worcestershire seamer was released to the Lions for this weekend’s two-day pink-ball fixture against the Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra and, with extra pace, steep bounce and a habit of producing the occasional unplayable ball, he is the obvious like-for-like. Matthew Potts, also with the Lions, remains in the frame, though his style – fuller, more nibble than burst – is subtly different.
Tongue’s case is helped by the memory of Hobart two winters ago, England’s last day-night Test in Australia. Wood took nine wickets there, finishing that shambolic 2021-22 tour as England’s leading bowler. If England feel they need someone to replicate those hard-length rockets, Tongue, not Potts, ticks more boxes.
Ben Stokes is said to be sympathetic to Wood’s frustration. The pair go back years, Durham team-mates long before either captained or spearheaded national attacks. Stokes knows how much Wood wants to play every Test, and how badly England need him fit beyond Brisbane. Managing that tension – ambition versus reality – is the hardest job of an England captain with a fragile fast bowler.
Off the field, the post-mortem from Perth rolls on. Former Australia batter Callum Ferguson felt England “didn’t challenge Head’s stumps enough” during the second-innings onslaught, while Aaron Finch suggested the visitors “looked a bowler light once Wood went off for a breather”. England’s brains trust won’t disagree; that is another reason to keep Wood available for the remaining three Tests.
The timeline helps. The third Test in Adelaide starts 18 days after Brisbane. Rest now, play later – that is the theory. It is a risk, of course: go 2-0 down and the Ashes are halfway out the door. But Wood turning up half-fit and breaking down mid-match is arguably a bigger gamble.
There is also Wood’s age to consider. He hits 36 in January, and while he insists the fire still burns, fast bowlers rarely get faster with birthdays. England’s medics will monitor him through the Gabba Test, then push him through a mini-pre-season of drills, gym work and short sharp spells in the nets. If the knee holds and the hamstring behaves, Adelaide is realistic.
In the meantime, Tongue could win a first Ashes cap under lights at the Gabba, the same ground where Wood made his Test debut back in 2015. It would be a neat twist: England’s quickest bowler of the past decade stepping aside so the newest member of that club can have a go.
No one inside the camp is calling Brisbane a must-win, at least not publicly. Yet they all know the maths: lose and they need to take two of the last three to stay alive, draw one and win the other two to regain the urn. With or without Wood, that is a tall order. The immediate task is to level the series. Whether England can do so without their quickest weapon will be the bubbling subplot all week.
