Ben Stokes says he is not afraid to show his “ruthless” side as he looks to help England bounce back from their 4-1 Ashes loss to Australia, adding that the tourists “played too much 3/10 cricket” throughout the series.
England dropped the series within 11 days of play as Australia won the first three Tests convincingly, but Stokes’ side claimed repechage within two days on Melbourne’s poor pitches and were trailed by five wickets in the final Test.
On the final day in Sydney, England sweated as they reduced Australia’s 160-point lead to 121-5, with Stokes surrendering in the first innings, sealing the defeat with a 183-run difference.
Alex Carey celebrates after hitting the winning run on day 5 of the 5th Ashes Test
“We should have gotten 100 more games (than 384) but we gave Australia 100 too many (567),” Stokes told TNT Sports. “That happened many times throughout the series.
“Australia have played some very good cricket and you have to give them credit and respect for that, but there were also a lot of moments where we did a lot of damage to ourselves.
“When you play against a huge team in a big series like the Ashes, if you make mistakes as a team, the result won’t be good.”
Stokes added, “I think teams have figured out how to operate against us for a while now. When we get into situations at bat where things look easy, opposing teams are doing a lot of the same things against us now.”
“We need to think about what we do in those situations. We play too much 3/10 cricket, but if you play like that, you’re more likely to not slip up in key moments.”
I’ve seen it often in this series as well as in other series.
There was talk of the future of Stokes, head coach Brendon McCullum and managing director Rob Key after such a disastrous series defeat, but Stokes reiterated his intention to continue leading a “realignment” with the England Test team and promised to be “ruthless” if necessary.
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England national team managing director Rob Key has backed Brendon McCullum, saying he is the best man to continue leading England despite their heavy loss to Australia in the Ashes.
“The way we grow is by being pretty honest and direct,” Stokes said. “If we don’t have those conversations, we won’t make progress.
“I was young and had some things thrown at me that I didn’t like, but looking back now I see they were said to me for the right reasons.
“I want to give the players in the dressing room the best and the best chance to be very successful as international players. I know they can do that. We just need to readjust.
“In the first few years[under McCallum]we did some incredible things as a team, not just in results, but in getting the best out of people who maybe didn’t know they were that good.
“Now it’s important to do that consistently.”
Stokes added: “It’s up to me, Brendon and Rob, sitting above the players, to put together something that shows this is what we expect.”
“I have a ruthless side, if people don’t live up to their expectations.
“I can do a better job as a leader and as a captain. We made a big mistake here as players and I made a big mistake as a captain. You have to be big enough and brave enough to say that to yourself as an individual.”
“This is not a culture of blame. Once that starts creeping into something, it all fails.
“If we want to take ourselves to the next level again, it’s about taking responsibility and ownership and really understanding where we are.”
Ashes Series in Australia 2025-26
Australia won 5 consecutive games 4-1
