Mark Wood has considered driving straight from Perth to Brisbane \u2013 a 2,500 mile (4,000 km) journey over four days \u2013 just to fill the extra time created by the chastening start to England\u2019s much-hyped Ashes moonshot.<\/p>\n
The fast bowler was among a side left \u201cshellshocked\u201d<\/a> by the galling batting collapse on the second day at Perth Stadium that allowed Australia to power to a one-nil series lead through Travis Head\u2019s remarkable 69-ball century<\/a>.<\/p>\n A nervous flyer, and with the two-day finish having opened up an 11-day gap before the day-night second Test starts at the Gabba on 4 December, Wood went as far as to look into how long it would take to make the journey by road \u2013 only to realise the scale of the journey involved.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I could drive across the country, I would,\u201d said the 35-year-old, speaking to former teammate Stuart Broad on the For The Love Of Cricket podcast<\/a>. \u201cI did speak to a local who said if you go across the country, that\u2019s a big danger. So you\u2019d have to drive around the coast. But I did look at it.\u201d<\/p>\n England are yet to announce whether any first-team players will divert to Canberra for the two-day pink-ball match against the Prime Minister\u2019s XI next weekend. Wood, a precious asset only just back from knee surgery in March, will be kept in cotton wool but the batters have been given the option to play.<\/p>\n Both the result and the nature of the two-day defeat at Perth Stadium has left a good number of the 9,000 England supporters who made the trip angered and triggered<\/a> by a fair degree of ridicule in the Australian media. In the immediate aftermath, the mood inside the England dressing room was just as bleak.<\/p>\n Joe Root and Mark Wood look dejected after England collapse on day two of the Ashes opener against Australia in Perth. Photograph: Asanka Brendon Ratnayake\/Reuters<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you first get back in, it\u2019s not that bit where you start evaluating,\u201d Wood said. \u201cShellshocked is the right word. Some lads choose to sit down, some lads start packing their kit. I sat down for five minutes. It looks like you\u2019re gazing [into space] but you\u2019re just thinking in your head.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen Ben Stokes gets back [from media duties], we sit in a circle at the end of the dressing room. But there\u2019s nothing I can say that will make it sound better. If I say we\u2019re quite level, people aren\u2019t going to be happy with that.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I say it\u2019s really emotional then people will say \u2018why can\u2019t you be level and go on to the next game?\u2019 What I can say is we speak honestly together. Everyone is open.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd 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.\u201d<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Subscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writers’ thoughts on the biggest stories and a review of the week\u2019s action<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n