Mark Wood says he views his Perth Ashes performance with 'shame'

Mark Wood said he looks back on his performance in England's Ashes series opener in Perth with "shame", the first Test he had played for 16 months, and he has not played since.

England surrendered a commanding position in Perth, leading by 105 with nine second-innings wickets in hand on the second afternoon before being beaten before the day ended; Australia chased a target of 205 to win in 28.2 overs, propelled by Travis Head's 123, after England collapsed nine wickets for 99.

Reflecting on that match, Wood said: "I look back on it shamefully. We should have won that first game. The whole tour is different if we win in Perth." He added that "Australia were there for the taking," and recalled stopping play to urge a change while watching Gus Atkinson bowl bouncers at Head: "At one point, Gus Atkinson was bowling, we were just bowling bouncers at Head and he was smacking them, and I remember looking at the score and thinking 'this game is finished'."

Wood outlined his fitness issues leading into the tour, noting he had been out of Test cricket for 16 months first because of an elbow injury and then a knee problem, and that he had tried to return at the start of the English summer. His only match before the Ashes was a warm-up against England Lions and he was "limited to eight overs at Lilac Hill because of tightness in his hamstring." On his readiness he said: "I look back at it from a personal point of view that I was nowhere near ready. Coming to Perth my knee probably wasn't right, and then my hamstring – I've never had a hamstring problem in my whole career. I think the hamstring was over-compensating for my knee, protecting my knee, and that's why it got tight. I remember bowling in the nets in Perth, almost convincing myself I'm ready to go, then at the back of my mind thinking 'I'm nowhere near'."

Wood also described intense media and public scrutiny during the tour, saying players were followed to golf courses and an aquarium and recounting incidents in Brisbane where three players were photographed riding an e-scooter without a helmet and a member of the security team was involved in an altercation with a TV cameraman. "People can say what they want about when Australia come here, but if they get followed like we got followed in Australia, I would be amazed," he said, adding an anecdote: "Me and Ben Stokes went for a walk, and this guy fell out of the bush with his camera. We had reporters running after us, asking us questions."

On the mid-tour holiday in Noosa and pictures of some players drinking, Wood — who is teetotal — said: "I wouldn't have done that. If I was a drinker, I wouldn't have done that, but that's not to say what I think is right or wrong, that I'm righteous, or I would have done the right thing. I wouldn't have done that because of what people might perceive me to be." He added: "Their choice is their own. They're grown men. If it is to their detriment and they don't play well, that's a detriment to your career, so that's up to you as an adult. My choice might have been different, but that is my choice, and I've made loads of bad choices in my career." Wood was in Noosa, then left the tour straight after.

Wood addressed criticism of the team's frequent golf during the era of captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum, noting Stokes retired from international cricket in June, with McCullum sacked as Test coach soon after. He said: "The perception of how it looks to people is worse than what it actually was. Is it a bad thing? The lads get to spend loads of time together. They don't just play golf, they're talking about cricket. You get away from the mental pressures of the tour, or at home. I see both points. The problem for me is how it's perceived by the public. That's the bit that looks wrong to me. I liked to get away and see where we were staying. You'd often fly into a place, see a hotel, or fly out. I'd often grab Mark Saxby, the masseur, or Chris Woakes and we would go to a coffee shop, or find somewhere." He added: "I wouldn't say they were obsessed, but the lads certainly did like their golf."

Wood was subsequently ruled out of the tour with the same knee issue. He has not played since.