Mark Wood Says England is Ready to Fight Back After Heavy Defeat in Ashes Opener

England faced a heavy defeat in the Ashes opener, as Travis Head came up with a firing knock that flipped the match in favor of Australia. Due to his brilliance, the Perth test ended in just two days, giving Australia an early lead of 1-0 in the series. This is certainly a very demoralising defeat for the England team, as they lost the match even when Australia didn’t have Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood in the lineup.

The senior pacer of the England team, Mark Wood, believes that his side can make a comeback in the upcoming matches. He admitted that the Perth defeat was a shocker, but it will not discourage England from continuing to work hard in the series.

"We know this is one of five. There has to be reflection of what went on, understand the disappointment, but also know we did some good things in this game,” said Mark Wood.

"Can we take them into the other four games? This is not one, it's one of five. We've been hit pretty hard in round one, but we've got other rounds to try and throw some back," added Mark Wood.

Describing the impact of the loss, Wood said that games like these can have a negative effect on a player’s mindset. The best way to handle it is by staying together as a team, so that they can figure out how to manage the challenge next time. He admitted that the fans back home would be hurt after the defeat, but said the disappointment would fade in the coming days when England would perform better.

"When you have a loss like that, you want to stick together. I think that's really important. Emotions will be raw for everyone at home when you get close and start believing in the team and have that letdown feeling. There's nothing I can say on a podcast that will make people think, 'oh they've solved it, I feel better now'. It's going to hurt, and it should hurt for a few days; the players feel that as well,” said Mark Wood.

"It is difficult but what can you do? We're stuck here, it's not as though we can get up and leave for Brisbane. If I could drive across the country I probably would just to keep my mind going but we're stuck here," added Mark Wood.

Speaking about the positives, Wood said that the bowlers’ performance in the first innings was a real confidence booster. After seeing that, England are confident that their pace attack can take 20 wickets in each match, as every bowler has been given a precise strike role.

"I definitely feel we've got 20 wickets, certainly. The team has been designed to take 20 wickets in these conditions," said Mark Wood.

"[Brydon] Carse bowled beautifully this game, ran in all the time. He made things happen, he was constantly at people. Gus [Atkinson] didn't get any wickets but he nibbled it around and beat the bat a lot. Jofra [Archer], I thought we saw the best of him, especially that opening spell,” added Mark Wood.

England Ready to Take on the Brisbane Challenge

The next test match in Brisbane will be a day–night contest, so England needs to finalise their bowling plans quickly. Mark Wood knows that the pink ball can move significantly under lights, which could allow England’s bowlers to make things difficult for the Australian batters.

"As a group we can take a lot of confidence from that game. Being a day-night Test, we know around nighttime it can zip around. If it can zip around at pace that can make it doubly difficult,” said Mark Wood.

The English pacer understands that the Perth win will give the Australian team a lot of confidence. It is certainly a positive sign for them, but it does not mean that England will not fire back. The visitors will come hard at them in the next match to level the series.

"Australia will have confidence from that win. I know it's only one guy who's played particularly well, but as a group, that will give them a lift, winning that type of game. Their batters will be more confident - can one of them play an innings like that? It's up to us to fight fire with fire, come back in and try to knock them over again," concluded Mark Wood.