Ben Stokes, the captain of England, wants his team to use the disappointment of their contentious loss in the second Test against Australia as motivation to produce an incredible comeback in the Ashes.
After a superb innings of 155 from the England captain, Australia prevailed against Stokes’ team to win by 43 runs at Lord’s on Sunday and take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series. Stokes’ side is currently in a losing position.
Even by the dramatic standards of the Ashes, it was a spectacular day of play, as the contest turned on the controversial dismissal of England’s Jonny Bairstow.
Bairstow was stumped by Alex Carey as he went out of his crease after ducking a Cameron Green bouncer. At the time, England were still in with a chance of creating history. They were trying to beat the record score of 371 that had been set at Lord’s.
Although a review of Cricket’s Laws demonstrated that the decision to remove Bairstow was justified, some would argue that it ran against to the spirit of the game.
Stokes took out his anger on the Australian bowlers with a superb effort that came close to leading England to victory but ultimately fell short of doing so. At the same time, shouts of “same old Aussies, always cheating” rang across the usually calm stands at Lord’s.
Only once in the previous 146 years of Test history has a side managed to come back from being down 2-0 and win a five-match series. That team was Australia, and they achieved it in the 1936/37 Ashes thanks to the inspiration of batting great Don Bradman.
But Stokes believed that his soldiers were capable of doing the same feat.
“Last year, we defeated Pakistan and New Zealand by scores of 3-0 each. “The only thing that’s on our minds is clinching the series with a 3-2 victory,” he added.
“Losing’s losing. The feelings will never change, but when you take a step back and look at the big picture, you’ll realize that the situation is really rather exciting.
“The manner in which we are currently playing cricket could not be more ideal given the circumstances in which we find ourselves,” said the captain.
“In order for us to reclaim this urn, we need to win these next three games.” We are a group that is plainly prepared to put themselves out there and do things that go against the conventional wisdom.
‘Pretty furious’ is an apt description.
Stokes has high expectations that England will be able to feed off the energy of the typically rowdy Headingley crowd when the third and final test begins on Thursday.
The contention that surrounded Australia’s triumph is certain to lend a further degree of venom to the insults that were hurled from the fans in Leeds.
“I could see it was ramping up and getting a bit vocal,” said Stokes. “I could see it was getting a bit vocal.”
“I’d never heard Lord’s like that. It was a fairly insane situation, wasn’t it? It is said that Lord’s does not have a lot of background noise, so it was refreshing to hear that.
Stokes famously guided England to a great one-wicket Test triumph against Australia at Headingley in 2019, but he indicated that would not be a driving factor for him. Stokes scored a fantastic 135 not out during the match.
“As a team, we enjoy playing at Headingley, but I don’t believe it really makes a difference whatever grounds we play at from here on out. “We are aware that we need to win the next three games in order to regain possession of the ashes,” he stated.
Stokes stated that there would be no lasting enmity between the sides despite the fact that stump microphones picked up England bowler Stuart Broad’s caustic criticism of Carey and Australia skipper Pat Cummins during the Bairstow incident. Carey and Cummins were involved in the incident.
“I’m not one to hold a grudge too much,” he added. “I’m not one to hold a grudge at all.” “The feelings are running strong right now. As the episodes go, other emotions will emerge and develop. It would be a pity not to have a beer and say ‘well done’ after you’re through.
In addition, Cummins minimized the likelihood of more altercations between the two squads.
There was no hostility there when I spoke to Ben. He stated that he did not believe there was anything that needed to be resolved.
“Is it going to alter anything? It does not appear to be the case for us. We will have to wait and see how things turn out.”
Cummins said, “I don’t believe so, no. When asked if the Bairstow incident had damaged the reputation of the world champions in Test cricket, Australia, Cummins said, “I don’t believe so.
“The sporting ethos of cricket is of the utmost significance. The manner in which we have approached it over the past three years has been really successful. We have every reason to be really proud.