The Ashes: Mark Wood hasn't 'taken notice' of Australian media's Ben Stokes hostility and has 'quiet confidence' in England success
England's first Ashes Test against Australia begins on November 21 and a hostile media reception has already greeted captain Ben Stokes; bowler Mark Wood has shrugged off the antagonism and promised the England team have a "quiet confidence" even if Australia are "the favourites"
Monday 10 November 2025 09:41, UK
Mark Wood is paying little attention to the hostile reception that England captain Ben Stokes has received from the Australian media and has "quiet confidence" that his team-mates can pull off an Ashes triumph.
Australian media slammed England's Bazball approach as "dopey" among a series of front-page jibes aimed at captain Stokes.
But bowler Wood has shrugged off that onslaught. "I think that's all part of it. I haven't taken much notice of newspapers and things," he said.
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"But the reception we've had in general from Australians have been great, throughout the hotel and around Perth everyone's been very friendly and everyone's excited for the series. I think it's a big build up.
"There's a lot of English coming," Wood added. "I think the Barmy Army will be in full voice and right behind us."
He acknowledged the scale of the task his team is facing, calling Australia the "favourites", but believes England can come through.
"The Australian side, they're very hard to beat in their own conditions. They've shown that for a number of years, we haven't managed to win many games here at all. I think that first game's a huge game," he said.
"As any bowling group knows that first couple of wickets is vitally important. If we can get off to a good start then we can try and put some pressure on.
"Australia are obviously the favourites going into the series but I think there's a quiet confidence within our group that we can do well here."
England have been working to replicate Australian conditions in preparation for the series.
"In England it's not so hot outside but we tried to put some heaters in the tent," Wood said. "Trying to mimic the conditions a bit here. Obviously it's not the same but nice that we were able to do that for a couple of weeks.
"Again that's more preparation so when we got here we could get up and running a bit quicker."
Ashes series in Australia 2025-26
All times UK and Ireland
- First Test: Friday November 21 - Tuesday November 25 (2.30am) - Optus Stadium, Perth
- Second Test (day/night): Thursday December 4 - Monday December 8 (4.30am) - The Gabba, Brisbane
- Third Test: Wednesday December 17 - Sunday December 21 (12am) - Adelaide Oval
- Fourth Test: Thursday December 25 - Monday December 29 (11.30pm) - Melbourne Cricket Ground
- Fifth Test: Sunday January 4 - Thursday January 8 (11.30pm) - Sydney Cricket Ground
