England fast bowler Mark Wood has no intention of sitting out any of England’s remaining three matches in the Investec Ashes.

Despite a career that has been plagued by injuries, including ankle and side problems in recent times, the Durham seamer is determined not to be take a break despite the next two tests, at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge, being split by just three days.

“I definitely don’t want to miss games for England,” he said. “We’ve had a little bit of rest time going into Edgbaston, then we’ve got Trent Bridge where famously I have played more first-class games than anywhere else, and done well there. I wouldn’t want to miss either of these two games.

“We have got some good fast-bowling stocks and say the next fast bowler was to come in and take five wickets then I am out of the team and can’t get back in, then being rested looks pretty stupid. I don’t want to miss games.

“They (England’s coaches) have asked me how my body is and how I feel, without saying you’re going to be rested.

“They’ve mentioned that my pace was down. At times when it is a flat pitch and people get in, you don’t want to concede runs so you might bowl within yourself. “I wasn’t consciously down on pace, maybe it was tough on my body. There is only one way I am going to get better and that is by playing back-to-back Tests. I wouldn’t want to give anyone else an opportunity – I want to cement that spot.”

With England losing comprehensively at Lord’s, by 405 runs, Wood revealed the disappointment of the result was very much reflected in the atmosphere of the dressing room.

“It was quiet,” Wood said. “There was disappointment after the game and then Trevor spoke well – he is very clear-cut in what he says. He spends more time in the background, in the shadows, and then when he speaks everyone listens.

“At the end of the game he said that basically it wasn’t good enough, we’ve got to show more fight and forget about what’s gone.

“We knew Australia were going to come back hard at us and he said maybe we thought about Australia too much in that second game. Whereas the first game in Cardiff we concentrated on ourselves more and I think that’s what we’ve got to do against them in Birmingham.”

With the Investec Ashes series locked at 1-1 going in to the third test at Edgbaston, England seamer Stuart Broad has backed the side to bounce back when the teams line up on Wednesday.

Broad has been one of the star performers in the first two tests, taking nine wickets including 4-83 in the first innings of the Lord’s test where Australia compiled 566 on their way to a 405-run victory.

With matches coming thick and fast over the next two weeks, including at Broad’s home ground Trent Bridge, the Nottinghamshire bowler believes they have a lot to improve on heading in to the busy period.

“In the first innings especially (at Lord’s), the 10 wickets we lost, they weren’t good balls,” he said.

“We gave them 10 wickets, and in Test match cricket you’ve got to make teams work hard for their wickets.

“I think when we get to Edgbaston you’ll see a very determined, steely, skillful batting line-up for England. I think it’ll be a big change from Lord’s.

“Let’s not forget that Edgbaston and Trent Bridge are two fantastic grounds for the England cricket team.

“We should have a lot of confidence. The last Test I played at Edgbaston, Cooky (Alastair Cook) got 294 (against India in 2011) and we won by an innings.

“It’s a huge week. I read somewhere that England haven’t won the third Ashes Test since 1981, which has got to change.”

Despite all the criticism leveled at England following the Lord’s loss, Broad says he is staying levelheaded with the series locked at 1-1.

“A lot has been written this week about it being the end of the world, like we’re losing 10-0,” the 29-year-old said.

“But, actually, it’s 1-1. They’ve played fantastically one week; we’ve played fantastically one week. Let battle commence.

“In an Ashes series, it’s so crucial to be mentally and physically fresh.

“It’s crucial that we don’t get to Edgbaston still hung over or fearing what happened at Lord’s. We need to be quite clear that we performed badly, but this is a new week.”

Tickets for Day 5 of the otherwise sold out Fourth Investec Ashes Test at Trent Bridge are still available priced at just £20. Don’t miss the chance to watch the sport’s most historic contest and secure your seats now.

As the Ashes heads to Edgbaston evenly poised at 1-1, Australia’s Head Coach Darren Lehmann is hoping momentum from Lord’s will prove crucial in their bid to go ahead in the series for the first time.

England hit the ground running by comprehensively winning the first Test by 169 runs before the tourists leveled in emphatic style with their 405-run demolition at Lord’s.

Now, Lehmann is confident of replicating the second Test performance and taking a decisive advantage heading to Trent Bridge.

“To repeat that performance would be a very special thing and go a long way to helping us achieve what we’ve come over here to do,” he wrote on cricket.com.au.

“Since the great result at Lord’s, we’ve had a terrific week with some of our squad staying in London with their families while a bulk of the touring party travelled to Derby for our three-day tour game.

Despite losing most of the second day to rain, the Derbyshire game provided a good hit-out for some of the guys who have been on tour since the series against the West Indies a couple of months ago but haven’t been playing a lot of cricket of late.

“Shaun Marsh was exceptional opening the batting, it was great to see Fawad Ahmed get some wickets, and Peter Siddle bowled really well for us taking the new ball.

“We also had Mitchell Marsh getting wickets and bowling with good pace, David Warner scoring his first hundred of the tour which was great to see, Shane Watson hitting the ball beautifully and Michael Clarke spending some time in the middle when he opened the batting in our second innings.

“It was also really good to have Brad Haddin back with the group and out on the field, where he scored runs and seemed to be enjoying the chance to have a gallop in the outfield. But as of Sunday, we’ve gathered in Birmingham where our focus is the third Test that gets underway at Edgbaston on Wednesday.”

Haddin’s return, along with the uncertainty of whether Chris Rogers will be available, has left Lehmann with tough selection decisions with the series in the balance.

“The good news is that everyone in our squad is injury free, although there is still a bit of a question mark over Chris Rogers as we wait and see how he’s going after the dizzy spells he suffered on the last day at Lord’s,” he added.

“We have to keep in mind our motto that you must be 100 per cent fit to play in a Test match, especially one as crucial as this third one in an Ashes series that is currently poised at one Test all.

“One of the other big talking points ahead of Wednesday will be the wicketkeeper’s position in our team, with Peter Nevill making his Test debut at Lord’s when ‘Hadds’ was unavailable.

“We are yet to finalise our XI for Edgbaston so all I can say is that we, as a selection panel, will make the decision that we believe is in the best interests of the team and that gives us the right balance for the conditions that we’ll face in the Test.

“If we have to make a tough call then that’s what we’ll do, but that won’t happen until we see how everyone shapes up over the next couple of days and we get a look at the conditions which will allow us to make a solid call on every position from one to 11.”

Although the Ashes has been and gone from Trent Bridge, it has left behind some rather alarming questions.

One of those is whether expert’s predictions before the series began were proven to be near the outcome. In keeping with tradition, there were a fair few `5-0’ predictions flying around before the Ashes series kicked off at Trent Bridge.

In contrast with series gone by, those predictions were largely in favour of England. However, after the pulsating first Test match staged at Trent Bridge, even they look like they could be wide of the mark.

With a view to changing times, Glenn McGrath’s prediction was downgraded from the usual whitewash. Still, in true Australian spirit, the pace bowler backed Australia to win the series 2-1, an uphill battle after the tight 14-run loss in the first Test.

Overall, predictions before such a big series are often far away from the end of series score. It is hard to say what sort of form two sides are on going into Ashes series and this year has been no different. England were the form team but played far from it and Australia bettered the display predicted by many and came within touching distance of the win.

Whilst the score reads 1-0 England meaning the `5-0’ predictions could still come true, the teams seem more evenly balanced than some experts are saying. The Aussie bowling attack frustrated England in the first innings leading to many false shots. England’s batting faltered under the pressure and the 215 in the first innings after choosing to bat would have been a huge disappointment.

Throughout the game, the Aussie batsmen showed increasing signs of form which will provide optimism for their supporters. Shane Watson and Michael Clarke didn’t fire and they will be a danger for England whereas Chris Rogers, only in his second test, and Phil Hughes both showed what they are capable of.

Their tail-end batsmen also provided hope, both times nearly costing England the victory. Hughes’ and Ashton Agar’s memorable stand in the first innings provided the fans with something to shout about and Australia nearly got home on the final morning with 136 needed with four wickets remaining.

All this added together leads to a readjustment to the pre-series hype of England winning 5-0. Whilst England are still likely to win, if they produced another poor performance, the Aussies are likely to pounce. It is highly unlikely that a draw will pan out if the weather stays fine leading to a more reasoned 3-2 England win at the end of what should be a fantastic battle.

As the crowd waited for the umpire’s decision, we captured the final minutes of this nail biting test, from Anderson bowling to the final result being announced.

Alec Stewart
“England have created the opportunities to finish this game off but both dressing rooms will now be tense. Swann has bowled too quick and flat to Pattinson. He needs to bowl wider and take a risk. The ball is also not reverse swinging but I’m convinced Anderson will start doing it.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/23302781

Michael Vaughan, BBC TMS
“I’d say it is 60-40 England but you just don’t know. It has been a terrific advert for Test cricket. For an Australian side given no chance of competing they have been excellent.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/23302781

Mike Atherton, Sky Sports Commentary 
“(James Paterson) looked good before the break, but as we saw in the first inings number 11 isn’t always reflective of how a player bats.”

Michael Holding, Sky Sports Commentary
“The closer you get to the target the more nervous you become. You know that one mistake can cost you the Test Match.”

After what was shaping up to be a breezy English win it is safe to say that under the sea of white hats in the stands sweat from sheer panic now drips from the foreheads of each and every wearer. Chasing the win with great momentum the Australian batsmen are starting to cause a stir in the crowd; The cat really has been thrown amongst the pigeons on this blistering final day.