Ben Stokes reacts to fourth test abandonment and Aussies retaining ashes
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 It's been a really tough way to not lose the series but lose the ashes.
00:13 A lot of people, England fans, are wondering should there be a reserve day, is there a
00:17 way around this or is this just a freak event in terms of the weather?
00:21 What do you think?
00:22 Yeah, well, first and foremost, obviously it's a tough way to not be able to get the
00:27 Euron back but in terms of saying there should be reserve days, I probably wouldn't be on
00:33 that side saying there should be.
00:37 Why not?
00:38 Well, Test cricket is five days.
00:44 I understand there being a reserve day for a World Test Championship because you obviously
00:46 want a winner at the end of that but I don't see there ever being a day where there's a
00:52 reserve day for Test matches in a series like this.
00:55 Some people are also questioning whether the tradition of retaining the Euron is fair and
01:00 should continue?
01:01 Looking for a headline here, aren't you?
01:04 Well, they're all questions being asked.
01:07 Look, that's always been the way it is.
01:11 Yeah, it is what it is.
01:15 We know we can't get it back.
01:16 We know all we can do is draw the series and that's obviously what we'll be trying to do.
01:22 If you head to the Oval then, how determined are you, how important is it for you to prevent
01:26 Australia winning this series?
01:28 Yeah, very similar to 2019.
01:31 We had to go to the Oval to win that, to draw the series.
01:36 For us, obviously we'll have to get over the disappointment today and then focus on that
01:43 game because obviously it is a massive game for us and 2-2 sounds a lot better than 3-1.
01:51 You've played plenty of Ashes cricket before, just wondered, looking around the dressing
01:57 room today when you knew you weren't going to get the chance to lift the Euron this summer,
02:01 how that left you feeling really and what your emotions were?
02:04 Yeah, I mean it was pretty tough.
02:08 I changed my position in the changing room so much today.
02:11 I said if I watch the rain it will go, then it didn't go.
02:14 Went to the back of the dressing room to watch a golf thinking it might go, turned my back,
02:18 still there.
02:19 Yeah, actually the last 20 minutes was the most frustrating because I'm not sure why
02:23 we're still waiting for the play to start.
02:25 I think we probably could have shook hands about half an hour before.
02:29 Just a frustrating day when obviously the weather dictates the outcome of a game.
02:33 Yeah, shame.
02:36 You said after Lords the job was pretty clear, it was three wins, everyone seemed to row
02:42 in hard.
02:43 Behind that must-win mentality, is it going to be easy to get the guys up to the level
02:49 they were at the first three days here when you head to the Oval, or is there going to
02:53 be a natural gut punch about not being able to get over the line here?
02:57 No, I think what we've done, the mentality and the mindset that we have within the dressing
03:04 room, that is it, it's go out and win.
03:10 Go back to the New Zealand series, go back to the Pakistan series, we could have taken
03:15 it easy in that last game knowing we'd won the series, but we didn't.
03:18 We still went out there with the exact same mentality in how we wanted to play the cricket,
03:24 even though we'd already won the series.
03:26 Every time I walk out to the field, that's all I encourage the players to do, is just
03:31 concentrate on what you need to do as an individual to influence the game in the right way.
03:36 If it doesn't happen, you've still got another opportunity to do that on a different day
03:41 or a different session.
03:42 Everything that we do as players is to try and just be as positive and hopefully everything
03:49 we do results in a win for England.
03:51 Obviously the disappointment of not being able to win back the Ashes, but is there also
04:01 disappointment at missing out on what next week could have been in terms of an occasion
04:05 and the big picture stuff around what that decider might have done for Test cricket in
04:09 this country?
04:10 I think it would have elevated everything that the series has already done for Test
04:17 cricket, especially in England.
04:19 But I think what we've managed to do up until today anyway has done wonders for cricket
04:27 in England.
04:29 I think we'll still have the support that we have done throughout the series next week.
04:36 But there's no doubt if we manage to get the result this game, the next week would have
04:41 been a very, very special week in the history of not just Ashes cricket, but English cricket.
04:48 We'll be treating it as every other game and I hope that the support we get would still
04:57 be there or thereabouts the same if it was 2-2.
04:59 Ben, how much do you take from how much you were on top of this game and on top of Australia
05:09 in this game?
05:10 And then also the win at Headingley, does that help going into the last game of the
05:16 series, even though it's obviously the disappointment of a draw here?
05:22 Yes, I think you look at the pressure that we obviously came into Headingley and this
05:27 game with, about both of those games being must-wins.
05:30 I think in particular the cricket that we did get in this game was potentially maybe
05:38 an opportunity for a team to play it safe and just wait and see what the outcome of
05:42 the game might be.
05:43 But we didn't do that.
05:46 We won the Toss Bowl to Australia at 320, got 570 at five and a half runs and over,
05:52 and then took five Australian wickets and then the rain came.
05:55 So we definitely didn't shy away from what we needed to do.
05:59 We're always putting our front foot forward and just tried to press the game as hard as
06:05 we possibly could.
06:06 And that's obviously, as a captain, is very proud to look back on as a leader of the 10
06:13 of the guys who were out there.
06:15 I'm incredibly proud of what everyone did when we had the opportunity to go out there
06:18 and play cricket.
06:19 It's just unfortunate that we've only managed to get three hours in over the last two days.
06:23 And just obviously as captain, you're going to have to help get this team out.
06:27 Is there anyone who helps you get up then over the next game?
06:32 No, I managed to get myself up actually, to be honest.
06:36 It's an incredible honour to be able to lead this team.
06:43 I said in the dressing room before that the rewards for your work isn't what you get,
06:48 it's actually what you become.
06:50 And I think what we've managed to become as a team is that people will remember.
06:55 I said that well before the series started, that I want our team to try and play a game
07:01 and try and play a brand of cricket that people will always talk about.
07:05 And I think regardless of how the series ends up, people will always talk about us.
07:12 So for me being the leader of this certain type of cricket,
07:17 and to be able to actually sit here and say that we've achieved that over the last 18 months
07:22 is something that I find very easy to be able to get out on bed and go out and play cricket.
07:28 Ben, obviously massively frustrating that you played so well this week
07:34 and were denied the chance to level the series by the rain.
07:37 But is it a bigger disappointment that you found yourselves 2-0 down in the first place
07:41 and left yourself such a big job over the last three tests?
07:44 No, not really.
07:45 Will, and then we'll go John Etheridge, Dan Bretin and Simon.
07:52 Ben, it's been a while since you drew a game.
07:55 I think you were trying quite hard to eliminate that from Test cricket.
07:59 Is it still just as grim a feeling to draw games?
08:02 Yeah, I think it's his first draw, isn't it, for us so far.
08:08 So it's no fault of our own.
08:11 So I try and take the positive out of everything, to be honest.
08:14 Look, we did literally everything that we possibly could.
08:18 Just sometimes the mother cricket, or I was about to say weather cricket there, but it doesn't make sense.
08:28 The weather just didn't help us.
08:30 We can't change that.
08:33 It's just unfortunate. It's a tough pill to swallow,
08:37 knowing that that's obviously been the reason why we sit here with a draw.
08:41 But we've done everything we possibly could in the hours of play that we managed to get.
08:46 After a start we were completely and utterly dominant throughout the hours of play we had.
08:52 So yeah, it's a shame, but oh well.
08:57 Could I just get a quick health update?
09:00 Do you expect to be able to name an unchanged squad?
09:03 Is Chris Wokes alright? It was suggested he was a bit stiff yesterday.
09:06 It's always a question when few people around at the end of a game that gets asked,
09:12 and you probably always get the same answer.
09:14 See you tomorrow.
09:15 Ben, do you think 2-1 is a fair reflection of the way the series has played out so far?
09:23 Do you think Australia have been the better team?
09:26 Well, I think if this game went without rain,
09:31 we probably would have been favourites to be sat here 2-2.
09:36 Quite a hard question to answer, I think.
09:40 A lot of people might say you've actually been the better team,
09:44 you've dominated the series as well.
09:46 Perhaps you find yourself 2-1 now?
09:48 Yeah, I think the way to answer that is,
09:51 you look at the games before this one, all the games have been so tight.
09:56 It's come down to the moment where one or the other team needs to be better in those moments.
10:04 The first two games, Australia were better than us in those moments.
10:08 I think they were very small, but those small moments that the opposition win over you
10:14 is probably the factor which gives them the result.
10:18 I think the first two games, that's what happened there.
10:21 We'll finish off with one HB, Simon, Scott, Mike Walters and then Dan Brake.
10:25 Hi, you've lost the first couple of games to this series,
10:29 and obviously you'll have experienced defeat many times in your career.
10:32 How does drawing a game that you've dominated compare as a feeling to the defeat you've had to deal with?
10:47 I think they're completely different.
10:51 The first two games we lost, we obviously played some brilliant cricket in those games.
11:00 We played some cricket that we knew we could have been better at.
11:05 Whereas this game, I can't actually look back and say we could have been better there,
11:09 because I think we were pretty much perfect throughout the whole game that we played.
11:13 As I said earlier, bowling Australia out and scoring the runs we did at the pace that we did,
11:17 I can't really say we got anything wrong throughout this game.
11:23 It is a bit tough to say we ended it with a draw when we dominated the cricket that we managed to get in.
11:29 Ben, I know you say that Australia won the key moments in the first two games,
11:33 and ultimately that's what decided the fate of the series.
11:36 Are there specific moments that you regret or wish you had over from those first two games,
11:41 whether it's the batting on day two at Lord's or declaration at Edgbaston or mischance?
11:46 Are there certain things you look at and wish you had that over?
11:49 Probably the catch I dropped off Mason Lane.
11:54 Honestly, that's an honest question.
11:59 Any others, or is that just the ones that stick out to you?
12:02 I think that's probably the biggest one, to be honest.
12:09 Mike, and then we'll finish with Doug. Thank you.
12:11 Is this the worst you've felt as an England captain sitting here now, knowing the Ashes are gone?
12:17 It's tough to feel bad as an England captain.
12:20 Down last one, please. Thank you.
12:25 Ben, I asked Pat before about Mark Wood's contribution to the series.
12:32 Can you just talk about his contribution from your perspective
12:35 and how that's added strings to your bow these last couple of games?
12:39 I suppose on the back of that,
12:41 it was obviously touch and go whether he could play in the first or the second test,
12:47 how close he came.
12:49 He's been so impressive.
12:52 Obviously having someone who has the ability that he has with the ball
12:58 to ball as fast as he does is obviously a massive weapon for any team to have.
13:03 Obviously the impact he had at Headingley with his five wickets.
13:07 And even here, the spell where he got Smith and Travis out,
13:15 massive game changer for us there.
13:18 Two massive players for Australia in the middle order there.
13:21 I think having that X factor, as we call it in sport,
13:28 is obviously a huge thing to have as a captain.
13:31 Where things are looking a bit dry and you're going,
13:34 'Where am I going to get a wicket from?'
13:35 You can just throw the ball to Woody
13:37 and you just feel like he's going to create a chance when he's got the ball.
13:41 Also the partnership in which he bowls with the person at the other end.
13:45 You shouldn't underestimate when Woody is bowling as fast as he does
13:50 that actually the pressure is always on the batsman
13:53 when they face the ball at the other end as well.
13:55 It's great to have someone like Woody in your team who can bowl like he does.
14:00 You can use him in many different ways.
14:02 Bowling short, when the ball is swinging,
14:05 bowling at 95mph conventional swing is tough.
14:07 We managed to get a little bit of a reverse swing yesterday actually.
14:10 It's just great to have.
14:14 I think as well, when someone puts their body through
14:18 what Woody does every single time he bowls a ball,
14:20 it's quite obvious you can see why these people get injuries.
14:26 It's a hard thing, bowling.
14:28 Not that I do it anymore.
14:30 It's probably why.
14:31 He's been incredible.
14:33 He's great in the dressing room.
14:34 He's brilliant to have around.
14:36 He's just a constant ball of energy.
14:37 He would run through a brick wall for this team.
14:41 If he's 80%, 85% next week, he'll still be chomping a bit to get a game.
14:46 The first two tests, how close he was?
14:49 I think we played it really well with Woody.
14:53 We could have potentially played him in the second game.
14:58 But I think the risk v reward was favoured towards the risk
15:01 if we were to ask him to go through that.
15:04 When you get two games out of Woody like he has done in the series so far,
15:08 you look back and say he probably made the right call.
15:11 You'd rather have him for longer than risk him in one game
15:14 and then lose him for the rest of the series.
15:16 Brilliant, thanks.
15:17 Cheers.
15:18 [END PLAYBACK]