The Ashes 2025-26: England pace bowler Mark Wood set to miss second Test

Speaking ahead of news of Wood’s injury, former Australian fast bowler Jason Gillespie said he was “concerned about the robustness” of England’s attack.

“Do they have enough work in the bank to be fit and strong enough to be able to hit a consistently high tempo throughout the whole match and back it up in subsequent matches?” Gillespie told Stumped on the BBC World Service.

“That’s the biggest question mark for me.”

Wood’s absence would be keenly felt by England in day-and-night conditions at the Gabba, where they have not won since 1986.

England have a poor record in floodlit Tests; It had won only two of its previous seven matches, including three defeats in Australia.

Australia have won 13 of their 14 day-night matches and have the world’s best pink-ball bowler in Mitchell Starc.

A pink ball behaves no differently than a red ball, but may be harder to see under light.

Part of Starc’s success in pink-ball matches is the number of deliveries he bowls at over 87mph, and Wood, England’s fastest option, took nine wickets when he last played in the day-night Test against Australia in Hobart in 2022.

Speaking on the For The Love of Cricket podcast, former England seamer Stuart Broad said: “There’s something about the pink ball, you can’t quite get it. You also don’t get any clues, so the seam is black on a pink background, whereas with the red ball and white seam you can see Mitchell Starc’s inswinger going back to the stumps or moving around.”

“It’s just that the lights are reflecting off the pink ball, so it’s like a big planet is flying towards you.

“That means you’re judging it by just reading it from the movement on the surface or the movement of the ball, but that’s pretty hard to do at this speed.”