Ageing Mark Wood not ready to surrender hope of Ashes return

Wood went under the knife in February for a knee issue and made the Ashes his number one priority. Recovery and rehabilitation went well and Wood found himself charging in at the opening Test in Perth.  

However, the two-day wicket fest saw Wood bowl just 11 wicketless overs and he was later spotted in a knee brace. The seamer was left out of the ongoing Brisbane Test. Speaking to Channel 7 News at the tea break on Thursday, the usually iridescent Wood was forlorn.

"Throughout my career, I've tried to show resilience and keep coming back and keep trying to push it where I can bowl faster and faster, but I'm getting older now," said the 35-year-old.

"I don't know if my body's not coping with it as well [as it used to] but I'll keep trying. That's something I pride myself on, to keep running in for the team and be a good team man. I'm hoping I can get this right and can charge in again.

"I'm trying to just get through day-to-day at the minute. Later in the series is what I'm aiming for, but I can't do that much at the minute. I've had a couple of injections, resting up, and slowly but surely, running [will] start soon, then back into bowling.

"It's more mentally difficult than physically. You've got to try and build it back up and come back again, and that's probably the more difficult thing."

Asked about a potential return, Wood had half an eye on the Adelaide Test on 17 December, but admitted he was looking at Test 4 and/or 5.

"I think there's a chance there, but more realistically, it's probably more Melbourne and then [Sydney] after that… I need to get out of this [brace] first to get moving around," he said.