England are on course to have a full complement of high-pace bowlers available to them for the first Ashes Test in Perth next month.
After Jofra Archer’s eye-catching performance in the second ODI in New Zealand, bowling with real menace as he took three for 23 from his ten overs, Mark Wood is making steady progress in his return from injury.
Wood, 35, had surgery in March to repair damaged ligaments in his left knee and arrived in New Zealand to join the rest of the squad just over a week ago, along with Archer and Josh Tongue. Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse make up of the rest of England’s fast-bowling arsenal. All five are capable of hitting 90mph.
Archer was England’s standout bowler during Wednesday’s defeat by New Zealand
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Before leaving the UK, Wood told the Wisden Cricket Weekly podcast that he was “quietly confident” of being fit and ready to perform in the first Test, which starts on November 21.
The weather in New Zealand has been poor but Wood has been able to log multiple training sessions, including progressing to bowling at batsmen. Before the second ODI in Hamilton, he had a red-ball net against Zak Crawley, the England opener.
“From what I’ve seen they all look fit and firing and ready to go,” Marcus Trescothick, the England assistant coach, said of Wood, Tongue and Atkinson. “They had a bowl in Mount Maunganui, where we were for the previous game. We had a training day and then a match day, so they got in early to do what they needed to do. We’ve got a few more days in Wellington where they can continue that prep. There’s still plenty of time before the first Test where they’ll be able to get overs under their belt.”
The make-up of England’s bowling attack for the first Test is yet to be decided. Archer is expected to play, most likely alongside two of Wood, Carse and Atkinson, with the off spinner Shoaib Bashir. However, England may opt to go without a frontline spinner, opening up space for all four pacemen.
Wood has not played since facing Afghanistan in the Champions Trophy in February
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“Hopefully we have every option available to us going into that first Test in Perth,” Rob Key, the managing director of England men’s cricket, said last month. “That may be Wood and Archer, it may not, but to have that battery of bowlers, every one of them fit . . . Fingers crossed, but that is the exciting thing.”
Wood hasn’t played a competitive game since England’s defeat by Afghanistan in the Champions Trophy in February, and underwent surgery on his knee in March. He initially planned to return against India for the fifth Test in the summer, but reported swelling in his knee when returning to top speed. After a similar setback, he missed out on Durham’s final three matches in the County Championship, where his inclusion was considered an unnecessary risk. “Thankfully, the last few times I’ve bowled there hasn’t been that swelling there,” Wood said this month.
Wood, along with the rest of the fast-bowling group, will travel to Perth at the conclusion of the New Zealand tour to join up with the Lions squad and further acclimatise to conditions down under.
England have come under criticism for not arranging any warm-up games in Australia before the Ashes — except a three-day match against the Lions — but they have taken a no-stone-unturned approach to how their quicks are preparing. Atkinson, for instance, has been with the white-ball group since the early stages of the T20 series as England micro-manage the fastest seam attack they’ve taken to Australia in recent memory.
Carse impressed during the summer and could play in the first Test in Perth
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“We’ve got a great group of players that we can go there and hit them with different tools to those we’ve had on previous tours,” Joe Root, the England batsman and former Test captain, said of the fast bowlers. “So when you look at it like that it’s a really exciting prospect.
“Clearly, Australia are really good in their own conditions, with a great record at home, especially against us, but that’s the exciting bit, right? There’s an opportunity there to do something a bit different and hopefully achieve something really special.”
England’s pace attack for the Ashes will be coached by David Saker, who will lead the group alongside Tim Southee for the warm-up and first Test before Southee departs to play T20 cricket in the UAE. Saker, an Australian, is a familiar face to England, after being the full-time bowling coach from 2010 to 2015. He has since returned in a consultancy role, including for England’s T20 World Cup victory in 2022 and for the 2023 Ashes and ODI World Cup.
Ashes 2025-26 scheduleFirst Test, Optus Stadium in Perth November 21-25Second Test, Gabba in Brisbane December 4-8Third Test, Adelaide Oval in Adelaide December 17-21Fourth Test, MCG in Melbourne December 26-30Fifth Test, SCG in Sydney January 4-8