Ben Stokes has made it clear that England will not move away from their attacking style in Test cricket. He said this even after the heavy defeat in the first Ashes Test in Perth.
England have used this bold approach since Brendan McCullum became coach in 2022. But it did not work in the first Test. England were bowled out in under 35 overs in both innings. Australia won by eight wickets and took a 1-0 lead in the series.
Stokes spoke to reporters in Brisbane on Saturday. He admitted that England failed in key moments in Perth. But he said the team will stick to their plan in the Gabba Test, which starts on Thursday.
“We did some amazing things throughout that Test match … but there were moments in that game where we could have been a lot better, we know that and we understand that,” he said.
“Could we have been better at executing what we wanted to do? Definitely, but we’ve got a mindset of playing the game, which is looking to put the opposition under pressure, but also trying to absorb that.
“Sometimes when you go out there and you make a decision, it doesn’t always pay off or work in the way that you want it to, and that’s what the key for the rest of this tour is, making sure that we stay true to our beliefs of how we play our cricket.”
Stokes also responded to comments from Mitchell Johnson. Johnson said England showed “arrogance”. Stokes said those words were unfair. Ian Botham also gave strong criticism after the Perth loss.
“You can call us rubbish, call us whatever you want to be,” Stokes said.
“I think arrogant might be a little bit too far … sometimes you’re a bit like, ‘I’m not too sure about that one.’
“But that’s OK. We’ll take the rough with the smooth.”
England chose not to play in the Prime Minister’s XI match in Canberra. The Test finished early, which gave them extra days, but they still skipped the pink-ball game. Critics questioned the choice.
Stokes said the pink-ball match would not have helped much because the conditions were very different.
“I do understand (the criticism),” Stokes said.
“We’ve got a pink-ball Test match coming up in Brisbane and there’s an opportunity to play some pink-ball cricket. When you look at it just like that, you totally understand it.
“But there’s obviously a lot more to it than just that, the conditions are obviously going to be completely different to what we’ve got coming up.
“You try and take all the factors into consideration, the pros, the cons, whatever it may be, and then you always discuss that and decide what we think is going to be our best preparation.”
Instead of going to Canberra, England trained twice in Brisbane with the pink ball. Their first session was at Allan Border Field on Saturday. Stokes said the heat felt similar to Sri Lanka.
“You step off the plane and you automatically get hit by that heat and the humidity,” he said.
“It’s a lot more sweatier, muggier, stickier. We feel like it’s going to probably be a lot harder physically than the conditions that we faced in Perth.”
England have not won the Ashes since 2015. They have not won a series in Australia since 2011. Some fans are frustrated with the team’s high-risk style. Stokes said he understands their feelings.
“It’s a results-based job that we’re in. We love our fans,” he said.
“We know we’ve got an incredible fanbase who come out here and support us. They want to see us win. We want to win.
“We’re absolutely desperate. They’re absolutely desperate. In terms of that wavelength, we’re all on the same wavelength.
“We know that there’ll be a lot of disappointed fans in England after that first defeat. It’s a five-game series. We’ve got four games to go.
“We’re doing absolutely everything within our powers and using our time as best to allow us to go out there to try and achieve that goal.”
The second Ashes Test starts on Thursday at the Gabba.
