Ben Stokes has urged his England team to make history in Australia and hopes to be one of the “lucky few captains” to bring the Ashes home.
A quest to reclaim the urn for the first time since 2015 will begin with Friday’s opening in Perth. The 13-0 record over the last three tours, despite the Australians losing two of their excellent bowling attack due to the exclusion of Josh Hazlewood and captain Pat Cummins from the first game, puts the challenge at hand in perspective. Additionally, they might include two rookies: opening batsman Jake Weatherald and fast bowler Brendan Doggett.
Overseeing the 3-1 victory in 2010–11, Sir Andrew Strauss was the final of five captains to lead Down Under since World War II. After 15 years, Stokes is hoping to become just the second person since Ray Illingworth to recapture the Ashes from Australia, in addition to becoming Strauss’ sixth. Additionally, it would mark Stokes’ first victory in a five-match series in four tries, the first being a 2-2 draw in the home Ashes in 2023.
“I’ve come here absolutely desperate to get home on that plane in January as one of the lucky few captains from England who have come here and been successful,” Ben Stokes said. “Personally, I do understand how big a series this is but it’s not putting any more effort into this one than I have done any other series I’ve been captain.”
Ben Stokes is eager to protect his players from any needless external pressure, as he has done during his time as captain. For example, he and head coach Brendon McCullum selected a 12-man team on Wednesday that included Shoaib Bashir.
With Mark Wood eligible for selection with a sore hamstring last week, it seemed like the postponement of the inevitable all-pace onslaught that England is eager to unleash at the Optus Stadium. In order to preserve a five-quick setup, England may, of course, recruit from outside that dozen if, say, Wood had a setback before the Test begins.
Another such was Ben Stokes’ answer when asked if the team should remain grounded instead of thinking about the sporting “immortality” that comes with winning an Ashes series away: “I can’t say we are going to be immortal because we all die, don’t we?”
As the only prior Ashes visitors, Ben Stokes, Wood, Joe Root, Zak Crawley, and Ollie Pope have been informing the others about what to anticipate. However, he acknowledged that it would be improper if they did not allow themselves to experience the excitement surrounding the series and, in fact, Perth, and face the magnitude of what was ahead.
“Everyone in the world, everyone in Australia, everyone in England knows how big this series is,” Ben Stokes stated. “We would only be lying to ourselves and to the reality of what this series is if we came out and refused to acknowledge it and continued on as simply another series. For me, Brendan, and Rob (Key), in particular, this team is facing what it feels like, looking it in the eyes, taking it on, and not being afraid of the challenge that lies ahead of us.
“We are aware that travelling to Australia and all of the associated off-field and on-field responsibilities are enormous tasks. For us, the next two and a half months are crucial. I believe that if we played it down and didn’t truly accept this moment for what it is, we might not truly comprehend what it is. Therefore, putting everything out there and informing everyone of what to expect, especially because we have a team here who are seeing Australia for the first time.”
After missing all competitive action since the fourth Test match against India at Emirates Old Trafford, Ben Stokes himself will be making his comeback.
In the fourth innings of the contest, he sustained a grade three muscle rupture in his right shoulder, preventing him from playing in the final, which India won to earn a 2-2 tie, despite taking five wickets and scoring a century in the first two innings.
The past four months have been spent strengthening his body and improving his abilities in addition to recovering from the accident, which did not necessitate surgery. Since he had already ruled himself out of the Hundred campaign with the Northern Superchargers that followed the India series and was essentially retired from white-ball international cricket, committing to rehabilitation was not too difficult.
He signed a two-year extension to his core contract, which will keep him until 2027’s home Ashes, as he was rebuilding in the background and did not provide any updates on social media, as he had done while recovering from his two hamstring tears.
“[It was] very easy,” Ben Stokes remarked when asked about the choice to commit for a further two years. “I want to eke everything out of this body I can and I will do that in an England shirt.”
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