Mark Wood cautions England players against making ‘dumb’ comments to the media
Rob Key, England’s managing director of men’s cricket, said last month some England players “speak a lot of rubbish a lot of the time”.
Mark Wood has urged England to have some humility going forwards as he accepted some of their claims to the media have been “a bit dumb”.
In the Bazball era, England have become known for their bold approach on and off the pitch, although some of their statements have threatened to veer from ultra-positive to delusional.
Rob Key, England’s managing director of men’s cricket, said last month they “speak a lot of rubbish a lot of the time” and Wood, while not singling out any of his team-mates, agreed with the assessment.
He said on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast: “Sometimes we’ve been so… naive, a bit dumb, in the things we say in the press. We’ll say things in the dressing room and that is in the dressing room. It should stay there.
“Then we come out in the press and we’ll say an off-the-cuff one-liner that maybe a group of lads have been talking about, it’s in the press, then it looks like we’re ‘Billy Big Boots’, above our station.
“I don’t particularly like that. We’ve got to be respectful. (But) I’m not kicking off at the other players.”
Another calling card has been a passion many of the squad share for playing golf in their downtime, leading to suggestions their focus on improving their handicaps interferes with the day job.
Former England captain Kevin Pietersen admonished the current set-up as they slid to a 3-0 ODI series whitewash defeat in India during a chastening white-ball tour where they won just once in eight games.
Wood, though, bristled at the accusations England are not training hard enough, saying: “One thing that does bother me is this narrative of ‘golf, golf, golf’.
“I don’t play golf. I don’t like it. It’s not a game for me. I know the lads enjoy it and that’s their time off. At times it’s as if the golf is more important, and that is not true at all. We train hard.”
Wood is currently convalescing from knee surgery and while initial estimates had him being sidelined for four months, missing the entire Test summer, he is optimistic of returning sooner.
And the 35-year-old indicated he could be ready to come back in time to play some part in England’s blockbuster five-match Test series against India, scheduled to run from June 20 to August 4.
He said: “I would hope to try to play a couple of games in July for Durham, then put myself forward for the England stuff, but that’s a long way away to look.”
