England captain Ben Stokes (AP Photo/Gary Day) England captain Ben Stokes has acknowledged criticism following his side’s dramatic defeat in the first Ashes Test in Perth, saying he is willing to accept being called “rubbish” but believes the description of the team as “arrogant” goes too far. The England side faced widespread opposition after collapsing in just two days. Despite holding a strong position on day two, leading by 105 runs with nine wickets in hand, England lost 9 wickets for 99 runs, allowing Travis Head to guide Australia to an eight-wicket victory. Former players and pundits criticized both England’s approach during the match and the build-up before it.
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The questions were raised over a three-day, low-intensity warm-up against the Lions and a two-day pink-ball match before the day-night Test in Brisbane. The images of the golfers reinforced the impression that England were not fully focused on one of the most anticipated Ashes tournaments in recent years. In England’s first media session since the defeat in Perth, Stokes said criticism is part of the job but not all is justified. “Look, you can call us bullshit, call us whatever you want,” he said. “We didn’t have the Test match we wanted. We were brilliant in passages of this game … but I think the arrogance can go a little too far.” He added: “But that’s fine. We’ll take the rough with the smooth. I’d prefer words like ‘rubbish’ but ‘arrogant’ I’m not so sure about.” Stokes also defended England’s decision to leave out most of the first-team players from the PM’s XI at Manuka Oval, with only Jacob Bethell, Josh Tongue and Matthew Potts featuring. The rest of the team is based in Brisbane as of Wednesday. “I get it,” Stokes said of criticism that England had shown disrespect for the game. “There’s a pink-ball game coming up in Brisbane and we’ve got an opportunity to play pink-ball cricket. I don’t want to say it makes sense when you look at it that way, but I totally get it.” He explained that location, Canberra and different playing conditions were also factors. “You take all the factors into consideration, the pros and cons, whatever it might be. Then we’ll discuss it and decide what we think is the best preparation. We’ve got a few more days off after this test than we planned. We had to go away and ask how we’re going to use those few days wisely to be ready for what it’s going to be like in Brisbane,” Stokes said. Saturday’s practice lasted nearly three hours before it was interrupted by rain. Thunderstorms have disrupted Brisbane’s week, with more expected to potentially affect both teams’ preparations. Australia go into the second test as clear favourites. They have won 13 of their 14 day-night Tests, with their only loss coming against the West Indies at the Gabba in 2024. Mitchell Starc, fresh from a 10-wicket haul in Perth, remains the biggest threat under the lights, boasting 81 pink-ball wickets at an average of 17.08. Despite the odds, Stokes urged his team and fans to remain confident. “We did some amazing things in that Test match. The way we played in the first innings and we were effectively 100 for 1 and put a score on the board that we felt was definitely defendable. We all know there were times when we could have been a lot better to get an even bigger advantage.” He added: “The important thing we have to do as a team and as individuals is to learn from it. We identified those moments, talked about them as a group and that’s what we have to do. Could we have performed better? Absolutely. But we have a way of playing to put the opposition under pressure and absorb it ourselves.” Stokes also emphasized staying true to England’s style of cricket despite mistakes. “Sometimes the decisions don’t work out the way you want them to. That’s the key for the rest of this tour – to stay true to the belief in how we play our cricket and at the same time know that we could have been better in certain ways.” Looking ahead, he said: “We know there will be a lot of disappointed fans in England after that first defeat. But it’s a five-match series, we’ve got four games to go and we’re absolutely desperate to achieve our goal before the series even starts, which is to win the Ashes.”
