Ben Stokes praised his England team’s effort in “another down-to-the-wire” Ashes Test at Headingley, but he underlined that their thrilling three-wicket triumph is “just the start” of their attempt to recover from a two-nil deficit and win the series.
Since he only scored 13 runs before Mitchell Starc str
Ben Stokes angled him down the leg side at Headingley four years ago, Ben Stokes was not the star of an England run chase. To chase down a target of 254 in 50 overs, they needed the efforts of Harry Brook, who top-scored with 75, as well as Zak Crawley, Chris Woakes, and Mark Wood.
Ben Stokes stated, “It’s a subset that is incredibly huge in the context of the series. “It’s a good win because we knew we needed to win this game to maintain our chances of taking home the Ashes. If you consider how close the first two games were, crossing the finish line piquant a close game can psychologically support you in knowing that it’s another close game but we’ve already done it.
The first two weren’t favorable to us. You might conclude that “It’s just not meant to be” if you sort of flip the situation around and we lose this game when it’s still close. Although we’re certainly thrilled with our victory, this is only the beginning of what we need to do.
Due in part to Ben Stokes’ fitness concerns, England made three changes to their starting lineup for the Headingley Test. All three of the newcomers—Woakes, Wood, and Moeen Ali—played significant roles, taking a combined 15 wickets and making cameos with the bat.
“Woakesy, being away from the team for so long, to return and perform the way he did both with the ball and the bat… It was fantastic to see Woody rushing in the way he always does, a big grin on his face, and enjoying every second of being outside, Ben Stokes added.
And I mentioned before the series began that we chose to bring Mo back into the squad due to the effect he can have on games. He and I have played a lot of games together, so I am aware of the effect he can have even on his best days.
“You look at the brief 15-minute time he had yesterday, during which he dismissed Steve [Smith] and Marnus [Labuschagne], and that was a crucial turning moment in the game. That is Mo playing cricket. When you sign somebody to the team, you want him to make an impact with the ball and the bat, and in this game, he most definitely did.
