Ashes 2021-22: In a recent interview with BBC, Mark Wood has talked about the Ashes, the Baggy-Green hype and a lot more.
Advertisement
The Ashes 2021-22 is set to start from 8 December 2021 at the Gabba in Brisbane. Australia will be looking to retain the Ashes, whereas England would want to regain it. The performance of England in Australia has not been great in the past.
Australia have been through a lot of stirs in the last few weeks. Tim Paine stepped down as the captain, whereas Pat Cummins will now lead the Australian side in the tournament. For England, the arrival of Ben Stokes is a huge boost for the side. Once again, James Anderson and Broad are set to lead the English pace battery.
However, apart from Anderson and Broad, Mark Wood and Ollie Robinson will also play a huge part in the series. Wood gave an interview to BBC where he spoke about his role in the Ashes.
Mark Wood opens up ahead of Ashes 2021-22
Mark Wood missed the majority of Ashes 2019 due to an injury, whereas he missed the 2017-18 series as well. He has not played a single test game in Australia till now. Wood insists that he is a different bowler now with a lot of self-belief.
“I think I am a different bowler (to 2015) … have changed quite a bit and I have a lot more self-belief,” Wood said.
“I had a lot of belief inwardly in myself at the time but because I wasn’t putting the performances together, I think that is what knocked my confidence and ultimately every time I got back in the team I was trying too hard.”
“Whereas now and ever since I changed my run-up, the St Lucia Test and Johannesburg Test, to get those five-fers in the bag, I feel like I am an England cricketer.”
Mark Wood also spoke upon the hype of “Baggy Green” around the Australian media and fans.
“So to come up against this ‘baggy green’ thing they keep talking about, we’ll have our ‘Baggy Blues’ on so I would love to stick one-up them,” Wood added.