England skipper Ben Stokes has said the team spirit will remain high even if they don’t win the ongoing Ashes against Australia. England lost the previous Ashes against Australia as they were thrashed 4-0 while playing Down Under.
The hosts currently trail by 2-0 in the Ashes against Australia and they will have their work cut out to bounce back in the series. Australia had won the opening Test match in a thrilling fashion by two wickets and then registered a 43-run win to take a 2-0 lead in the series.
Meanwhile, England has played impressive Test cricket in the last year under the tutelage of Brendon McCullum. Before the Ashes, England won 11 out of their last 13 Test matches but Bazball hasn’t quite delivered in the ongoing series.
Ben Stokes said in the press conference, “I don’t know if we want to say it but the Ashes is obviously over if things don’t go well – but the team isn’t over. This is the moment. It starts here at Headingley and we’ve got to win this game. We’ve got to keep looking to press the game on.”
Meanwhile, Harry Brook will bat at number three for England in the third Test match in the absence of Ollie Pope, who has been ruled out with a shoulder injury. Jonny Bairstow has also been promoted to number five from number seven position in the batting order.
Explaining the changes made to the batting line-up, Stokes said, “He’s (Harry Brook) technically very gifted and players like that you feel can bat anywhere. We want to keep Joe at four because he’s a remarkable player, and moving Jonny to five was just to get him into the game earlier. The things he did last summer in our No 5 position are quite hard to look past.
Stokes also revealed how he broke the news to these two batters about their promotion in the batting order.
“He (Jonny Bairstow) was batting in the nets and I just walked up to him and said: ‘You’re batting five’. As for Brook: “I actually told him in the nets when he was batting. As soon as I said he’s batting three, he said to Jeets [the spin-bowling coach Jeetan Patel]: ‘Ah, can I have a new ball please?’ He gets it and just cracks on.”
Mooen Ali returned to England’s playing XI for the third Test match and the hosts have also added Mark Wood. Stokes added he doesn’t feel any pressure if he isn’t contributing with the ball.
“That last week took it out of me a little bit. “So I had to think: ‘What would be the best team if I wasn’t to bowl a ball in this game? Now I don’t feel as if I’m under too much pressure to bowl.”
The third Ashes Test will be played at Leeds, Headingley from Thursday onwards.
