Mark Wood lifts the lid on the scenes in the England dressing room after one of the most devastating Ashes losses ever

Mark Wood has lifted the lid on the mood inside England’s dressing room in the wake of their disappointing defeat by Australia in the opening Ashes Test in Perth. 

The England fast bowler revealed that many of his team-mates had spent the following day locked away in their rooms, reeling following the eight-wicket defeat. 

England had taken a commanding 99-run lead with nine wickets in hand after lunch on day two, but things quickly unravelled for England in the space of five hours.

After lunch, the tourists slumped to being bowled out for 164 runs, with Ollie Pope, Joe Root and Harry Brook all being dismissed in the space of five deliveries for no runs.

Australia smelled blood, with Travis Head, stepping in for Usman Khawaja to open their second innings, striking the second-fastest century scored by an Australian in the Ashes off just 69 deliveries, ultimately spurring his side on to an eight-wicket victory.

While there was jubilation for Australia, Wood agreed with Ben Stokes who claimed that his side were 'shellshocked' following the two-day defeat.

‘Is it too emotional to evaluate anything after the game?’ Broad asked the England pace bowler on the For The Love Of Cricket podcast.

‘No,’ Wood replied. ‘I’ll take you through a few stages. Initially, when you get off the field, there’s a bit of light music in the background.

‘Some lads choose to just sit down. You can see that people are just disappointed. Other lads go straight into packing their kit because obviously they’ve got to be doing something, they don’t want to just sit there. 

'Stokesy seems to go straight out the dressing room, he’s in and back out. The media guy, Danny, takes you out. The strength coach is giving people shakes and trying to recover and the physio is coming to people.’

Broad added: ‘People are trying to stay busy, aren’t they?’

Wood replied: ‘Yeah. When you first get in, it’s not that initial first bit where you start evaluating, you can see that people are... Shellshocked is probably the right word.

‘You can see people react in different ways. My initial one is that I probably sit down for like five minutes, it looks like you’re gazing but you’re actually reviewing and thinking in your head.

‘And then you’re just trying to be busy. You’re getting changed, you’re having a shower and you’re packing your kit.’

Wood revealed that when Stokes returned, the group sat down at one end of the changing room to dissect the match.

‘The changing room is quite big at the Perth Stadium so we all go to one end of the changing room so people are not shouting and there are people not engaged - you’re all together.’

However, Wood, who failed to take a wicket during the match, was reluctant to open up on the emotions of the playing group, instead stating that their conversations were honest.

‘There’s nothing I can say on a podcast that is going to make this sound any better. If I say we’re quite level, people aren’t going to be happy with that. If I say it’s really emotional, people will say: “Well, why can’t you be level and go to the next game”,’ he explained.

‘So I don’t think anything I say or any insight on what it’s like on the dressing room is going to give a good reflection on what it’s like.

‘What I can say is that we speak honestly together. Everyone is open and I feel that we know that this is one of five. So, as much as we’ve been in this position before and we’ve come back, there has to have been a reflection of what’s gone on and an understanding of the disappointment. But also know that we did some good things in this game and can we take that into the other four games.’

‘We’ve been hit pretty hard in round one but we’ve got other rounds to try and throw some back.’

England now have nine days until the second Test at the Gabba. With the opening match wrapping up three days early, the playing group have been making the most of their time in Perth, with some players heading out to play golf on Monday, while others went to an aquarium in Perth.

Wood revealed that took a trip to Fremantle on Monday, where he bumped into many England fans.

‘Initially, I think everybody was lying a little bit low yesterday, the emotions of the day, I think a lot of the lads I’ve spoken to have just spent a lot of the day in their room,’ Wood explained.

Broad added: ‘That’s what I used to do. Once you lose a Test anywhere in the world, the day after. You do feel like you’ve let the fans down because they’ve travelled a lot of miles and spent a lot of money to come and you don’t want to be bumping to people in a coffee shop who are going: “What happened yesterday?”'

‘I think some lads just want a bit of time to themselves to let out a little bit of air,’ Wood explained.

‘I went to Fremantle yesterday, I’ve never been there before. I have seen some England fans out there. Bumped into some people from home, which was a nice little surprise.

‘Just try to get away from thinking about cricket a little bit. We can get absorbed in it and that is mentally draining then, if you’re totally absorbed that if you’re coming to the next game you’re already mentally drained. Just trying to switch off the best I can, watch a few movies, play a few card games.’