Mark Wood Urges Cricketers to Stop Making ‘Dumb’ Comments

England fast bowler Mark Wood has called out his teammates for making careless or “dumb” comments in public, urging them to be more thoughtful when speaking to the media.

For example, Ben Duckett recently said he would not mind losing a one-day series in India 3-0 if England went on to win the Champions Trophy, which they did not.

During the 2023 Ashes, Zak Crawley claimed the team was “not about winning or losing, we’re about entertainment.” These types of comments have drawn criticism, with England’s managing director of men’s cricket, Rob Key, admitting that players “speak a lot of rubbish a lot of the time.”

Speaking on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast, Mark Wood said, “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.”

England players have also faced criticism for appearing more interested in golf than cricket, especially after a disappointing white-ball tour of India where they won just one out of eight games.

Former captain Kevin Pietersen was among those who questioned the team’s focus. However, Wood rejected the idea that the team is not working hard enough. “One thing that does bother me is this narrative of ‘Golf, golf, golf’,” he said. “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.”

Currently, Mark Wood is recovering from knee surgery. Initial reports suggested he would miss the entire home Test season, but Wood remains hopeful of returning in time for England’s five-match Test series against India, scheduled from June 20 to August 4. “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,” he said.