After going down 2-0 in the current Ashes series, England captain Ben Stokes said he thought his team was ready to go against the grain. The Pat Cummins-led team beat the home team by 43 runs in the second Ashes Test, which took place at Lord’s on July 2. Ben Stokes said that the way they are playing cricket is very interesting and couldn’t be more fitting for the trouble they are in.
Cricbuzz quoted Ben Stokes as saying, “It’s very exciting to know that the way we’re playing cricket right now couldn’t be more perfect for where we are.”
England needs to win the last three games to take the urn back from Australia. Stokes said that the team is definitely ready to put themselves out there and do things that go against what people think of them. The 32-year-old said that their chances in the last three games are better than they have ever been.
“To get this urn back, we have to win these three games. We’re a group of people who aren’t afraid to put ourselves out there and do things that go against the norm. Now, these three games are a better chance for us than anything else we’ve ever had,” he said.
Ben Stokes talks about how well he batted at Headingley in 2019.
The English captain’s amazing attack at Lord’s reminded me of his batting in the 2019 Cricket World Cup final, and he followed it up with a remarkable 135 not out in a thrilling Test at Headingley. He thought about those two innings and said that he had learned from them, especially at Headingley, and that he might do the same thing in the second inning.
“Because I played in those two games, I was able to learn from them, especially at Headingley. “Just kind of going about it the same way, looking to take my boundary options and also try to get some twos and get off strike towards the end of the over,” Stokes said.
Ben Stokes went on to say that he had trouble finding the twos on Day 5 and that Pat Cummins’ grounds made it hard to push the twos. He also said that he took some risks by acting like no one was at the border and trying to cross it. In particular, he hit nine fours and as many sixes in his 155-run second inning at Lord’s, which took 214 balls.
“The only thing I had trouble with today was finding the gaps for the twos. Pat Cummins’s fields were hard to push the two through, and I think I only got two away. Obviously, I had to take some big risks because everyone was on the edge, so I just had to pretend no one was there and try to go over them,” said the English skipper.