‘What other option do we have?’ Stokes demands more fight from Ashes rookies

Ben Stokes said his Ashes rookies had been cowed by the intensity of playing in Australia as he called on them to show some “dog” in the third Test.

Ahead of Wednesday’s match, Stokes said England had held “raw” team meetings after going 2-0 down following successive eight-wicket defeats in Perth and Brisbane.

Ben Stokes bowls during training at the Adelaide Oval.Credit: Getty Images

After the second Test, Stokes said Australia was no place for “weak men”. Since those comments, across a four-day break in Noosa and two days of training in Adelaide, he allowed that message to “drift around” and believes he will get a response from his players this week.

Stokes said there had been “proper, meaningful conversations” with the whole squad, which is unusual for a leadership group that values one-to-one discussions over full team meetings. This included an honest meeting ahead of their first training session at Adelaide Oval on Sunday.

“I’ve done all the talking over the last two days that I needed to,” said Stokes. “What needed to be said has been said. Everyone’s very switched on for what needs to be done this week. A few more expectations, I think, around the group, but everyone responded incredibly well to it, because what other option do we have?”

Stokes called on his team to show fight, in the manner they did in their most recent victory, five matches ago against India at Lord’s, where Zak Crawley found himself in a fight with the opposition and England scrapped to a 22-run win defending just 193.

Brydon Carse and Ben Stokes at the Gabba.Credit: Getty Images

“It’s just trying to fight in every situation that you find yourself in and understanding the situation and what you feel is required for your team,” said Stokes. “Just look at your opposition every single time and show a bit of dog. That’s fight to me.

“That [Lord’s] has been brought up. That’s exactly what I’m on about. That was a moment where we all identified that moment. And you’ve seen the way that team came out on that day. We were probably in a situation that day where we had to be absolutely perfect to win that game and we were. And on the back of attitude, mentality towards that specific situation is what gave us the best chance of winning that game. That India game was spoken about, and the rest of the series.”

Stokes has admitted that some of his players have been lacking that mongrel spirit, because they have been overawed by the sheer intensity of Ashes cricket in Australia. He cited the example of wicketkeeper Jamie Smith being mocked by the Gabba crowd for hours after a simple drop of opener Travis Head.

“Honestly I think so,” he said. “There’s been a lot of guys in the squad who have come out here to Australia for the first time and I remember my first tour here, you try to imagine what it’s going to be like and you hear people talk. And when it does come around it’s like ‘wow’.

‘Look at your opposition every single time and show a bit of dog. That’s fight to me.’

“But now I feel everyone has experienced that and probably at its highest level so we all know what it’s going to be like. So for the next three games there isn’t going to be any of that ‘I didn’t expect this’, ‘it’s the first time I’ve had this’. Even the likes of Jamie Smith, the whole day he dropped that catch and then the whole crowd was wailing at him every time he caught the ball. He now knows it.

“I think sometimes saying it with a little bit more emphasis and passion and attitude from myself can take lads to another level in terms of that side of things.”

One Ashes first-timer who Stokes believes embodies that “dog” is Brydon Carse, who will take the new ball and has kept his place in the team ahead of Gus Atkinson with Josh Tongue recalled.

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“He’s not bowled as well as he would have liked to but he still takes wickets. And the reason he’s able to is because he’s constantly in the fight and in the battle and is willing to do everything not only for me but for the team, so, he’s got dog… He’s an absolute warrior.”

Stokes said his team remained buoyant, even if he understood that fans could be feeling despondent.

“There’s no deflated feelings whatsoever in this team right now,” he said. “There obviously were after the first two games because that’s what the game does to you in terms of your emotions. But sitting here right now there’s none of that with me and none of that with the team.

“We turn up to Adelaide knowing exactly what we need to do. So hopefully in Adelaide, after everything that’s been said, there’ll be a different feel and a different look to maybe what we’ve seen in the first two games.”

Telegraph, London

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