After England suffered another eight-wicket drubbing to Australia 2-0 in the Ashes, a heartbroken Ben Stokes questioned England’s mentality and called for more from his side.
England, who lost the series opener in Perth within two days, suffered another heavy defeat in Brisbane, with Australia set just 65 to victory, despite showing further resistance on the fourth day at The Gabba.
The captain himself led from the front, sharing 96 runs for the seventh wicket with Will Jacks to hit his 36th Test fifty, at least forcing Australia to bat again.
But the damage had already been done after wayward bowling early on the second day, allowing Australia to fly to England’s first-innings 334 and conceding five dropped catches of the home side’s 511, followed by a collapse of the top-order batting late in the third day, leaving the tourists limping to another heavy defeat.
Ben Stokes’ side lead 2-0 in the Ashes with three Tests remaining after a disappointing defeat in Brisbane
“When the game is on the line, teams can handle that pressure better than we can,” Stokes said in an interview with TNT Sports.
“We’re a great team when we’re leading, we’re a great team when we’re trailing and we’re a great team when we’re behind and trailing, but we can’t handle the pressure when the game is on the line. As captain, that’s obvious.”
“It’s a mentality, a way of thinking. How you get yourself into your head to make clear decisions is very important to succeed at this level.”
“No one is going to drop a catch or not bowl it where it should be bowled, but things like that don’t happen at this level.”
England dropped five catches on the field in Australia’s first innings in Brisbane
Stokes: We’re not going to avoid a fight.
In the post-match presentation, Stokes added, “We knew exactly how we needed to bowl, but we just couldn’t bowl for long enough to put pressure on Australia. That was evident in how quickly and easily they scored.”
“I wasn’t able to perform with bat and ball so it will be a bit of a discussion in the dressing room.
“The theme always seems to be that when the pressure is on, Australia continues to outdo us. They say Australia is no place for weak people and we are by no means weak, but we need to find something.”
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Matthew Hayden has a message for Joe Root after his century in the second Ashes Test. Video credit: ECB
Despite the obvious disappointment, Stokes backed his team to turn the series around and urged them to show more fight as they aim for victory in the final three Tests.
“We’re not going to avoid a fight, but if we want to bring Ash back to England, we need to sort things out fairly quickly,” Stokes said.
“I have absolute faith in that dressing room. I have complete faith in the players and the coaching staff. We know we have to win these next three games.”
“We need to show more fight. We need to know why we seem to keep doing what we’re doing because this isn’t a skill issue.”
“Root told me he would get a big score after Perth.”
In a follow-up with TNT Sports, Stokes also cited Joe Root as an example for his team to emulate, with the former England captain finally answering some of his critics with his first-inning hundred against Australia.
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Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain reflect on Joe Root’s maiden Test hundred in Australia on the Sky Sports Cricket podcast.
“Root scoring 100 points is a great example for the group,” Stokes said. “Come here and see how much surveillance he was under.
“After the first Test in Perth, he sat next to me and apologized – I said he never had to do that – and told me he would get a big score next time.
“That’s a great mindset that everyone can use. I think a lot of people, myself included, can learn from that to do what he did this week.”
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