Ben Stokes suggested on Tuesday that the poor weather that is expected in Manchester could motivate England to play an even more aggressive game as they try to keep their Ashes ambitions alive with a victory in the fourth Test that will take place at Old Trafford.
With a three-wicket victory at Headingley, England kept themselves in the running to reclaim the urn from their bitter rivals Australia. The victory left the hosts behind the series 2-1 with two more matches to go before the conclusion of the series, which will take place at Old Trafford and The Oval.
Since England’s captain Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum started working together a year ago, the side has earned a reputation for taking a daring “Bazball” approach to red-ball cricket. This strategy has become known as “Bazball.”
To have any chance of winning a match that begins on Wednesday, England may have to pick up the pace of their play in order to compensate for the fact that Manchester is expected to see severe rain on the fourth and fifth days of the competition.
“You never want to look too much into the weather, but in the position we find ourselves in, we find that we might have to,” Stokes said during a news conference held at Old Trafford on Tuesday.
“We are aware that we need to win this game in order to carry it to the final game in order for us to have a chance of regaining possession of the urn.
“We knew going into the last game that we had to win that one since we were down 2-0, and I think it helped us out a little bit. It’s possible that the weather that’s forecasted will, once again, motivate us to perform at a higher level by making us aware that we might have to step up our game even more than we normally would.
“All we can do is wait and watch what happens. It is possible that we will need to if the forecasted weather turns out to be accurate.
After the Australia squad of 1936/37, which was motivated by batting great Don Bradman to turn such a deficit around and prevail 3-2, England is attempting to become only the second side in the history of cricket to win an Ashes series after falling behind 2-0.
When asked if this could be the greatest series, all-rounder Ben Stokes responded as follows when asked if this could be the greatest men’s Ashes series: “If we win this one then going into the last game at 2-2, it would be hard not to say this is the best men’s Ashes series in a long time, if not the best.” The current series has drawn comparisons with England’s celebrated 2-1 victory over Australia in 2005.
If you take out Australia and England from the equation, the cricket that has been played so far has been nothing short of outstanding. Everyone who has watched the match, whether they did it at the ground or at home in front of their televisions, has expressed how much they have liked the cricket that has been played.
“There have been some pretty special moments out on the cricket ground, as well as some special individual performances as well.”
James Anderson, the record holder for most wickets taken, was recalled by England in his home stadium in Lancashire, where he has an end named in his honor. Ollie Robinson, another seamer, was replaced by Anderson as the only player to be changed in England’s starting XI at Headingley.
In the first two tests, Anderson, who will turn 41 later this month, only managed to pick up three wickets while maintaining a costly average of 75.
“When you’re a quality performer like Jimmy has been for the last ten years, you’re going to be disappointed that you’re not contributing to the team like you normally do,” Stokes said. “Jimmy is going to be disappointed that he’s not contributed to the team like he normally does.” “But I did tell him, ‘even if you’re not taking wickets like you want to be doing, at the other end you see the pressure you’re putting on the opposition.'”
“Despite the fact that this is not his primary responsibility with the ball, he holds an end up. You can’t take as many wickets as him without losing the odd game here and there, and Jimmy doesn’t have any problems at all.”