England prepared to take long journey to win Ashes, says Wood

Fast bowler, who is a nervous flier, considered driving 2,500 miles to Brisbane given the long break before second Test

- Ali Martin

Mark Wood has considered driving from Perth to Brisbane - a journey of 2,500 miles (4,000km) over four days - just to fill the extra time created by the chastening start to England’s much-hyped Ashes moonshot.

The fast bowler was among a side left “shellshocked” by the galling batting collapse on the second day at Perth Stadium that allowed Australia to power to a 1-0 series lead through Travis Head’s remarkable 69-ball century.

A nervous flyer, and with the two-day finish having opened up a 12-day gap before the day-night second Test starts at the Gabba, Wood went as far as to look into how long it would take to make the journey by road - only to realise the scale of the logistics involved.

"If I could drive across the country, I would," the 35-year-old told his former teammate Stuart Broad on the For The Love Of Cricket podcast. “I did speak to a local who said if you go across the country, that’s a big danger. So you'd have to drive around the coast. But I did look at it.”