England captain Ben Stokes on Thursday described Steve Smith and Joe Root as the greatest batsmen of their generation, notably excluding Virat Kohli from the conversation. Ahead of the first Ashes Test in Perth, Stokes stressed the importance of retaining Smith, who continues to pose a major challenge for England in Test cricket.
Together, Smith and Root amassed an impressive 24,020 Test runs and 75 centuriesreflecting their dominance over the past decade. Despite Root’s relatively modest record on Australian soil, averaging 35.68 without a century, Stokes has put him on par with Smith, who boasts an impressive home average of 59.70 against England, including 18 hundreds.
Addressing Smith’s ability to consistently trouble England, Stokes commented: “Not too much has changed because he (Smith) just runs against us, doesn’t he?” He added: “He seems to be a constant – a serious player for a very long time.”
Elaborating on the status of Root and Smith, Stokes said, “He and Joe Root, in my opinion, are the greatest batsmen of this generation.” His rating did not include any mention of Virat Kohli, a decision that sparked debate among cricket fans and analysts.
With the Ashes series underway, Stokes outlined the tactical challenge facing England. “You always want to come up with ways to try to keep the best players quiet. And that’s something we’re obviously going to have to do. It’s going to be tough to do,” he added, underscoring the difficulty of neutralizing Smith in particular.
Stokes identified Smith as the deciding factor, saying: “But if we can keep Steve Smith, minus everyone else in the batting order, calm, then we’ve given ourselves a good chance of getting the target we want.”
Smith, who will captain Australia in the absence of Pat Cumminsenters the series with a remarkable average of 68.98 from 40 Tests as captain. His full-time captaincy ended in the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa in 2018, but since then he has regularly stepped in whenever needed.
Smith’s remarkable numbers as Australia captain are a huge worrying sign for England ahead of the Ashes. Smith recently hit a century for New South Wales after a six-week break from batting and said he felt in a good place.
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Issued by:
Rishabh Beniwal
Published on:
November 20, 2025
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