Ben Stokes is determined to join the select group of England captains who have returned from Australia with the Ashes, urging his side to seize the opportunity to create their own history. England’s campaign begins with the series opener in Perth, marking the start of their mission to reclaim the urn for the first time since 2015.
The scale of the challenge is underscored by England’s 13-0 combined defeat across their previous three tours. However, Australia will be without two of their frontline
fast bowlers for the first Test, with captain Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood both ruled out. Their absence has opened the door for debutants Brendan Doggett, a fast bowler, and opening batter Jake Weatherald.
Sir Andrew Strauss was the most recent England captain to win the Ashes in Australia, guiding his side to a 3-1 triumph in 2010-11. Fifteen years later, Stokes aims not only to emulate Strauss as the sixth England captain to succeed Down Under, but also to become just the second since Ray Illingworth to regain the Ashes on Australian soil. A series victory would also mark Stokes’ first win in a five-match series, having drawn the 2023 home Ashes 2-2 and fallen short in his other long-format assignments.
"I've come here absolutely desperate to get home on that plane in January as one of the lucky few captains from England who have come here and been successful. Personally, I do understand how big a series this is but it's not putting any more effort into this one than I have done in any other series I've been captain,” said Stokes as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
Stokes, true to the approach he has favoured throughout his captaincy, is intent on shielding his players from unnecessary external pressure. On Wednesday, he and head coach Brendon McCullum named a 12-member squad that included off-spinner Shoaib Bashir. The selection had the feel of a holding pattern, with England seemingly delaying confirmation of the all-pace attack they are expected to unleash at the Optus Stadium. Mark Wood has been passed fit after a tight hamstring kept him out of action last week.
England retained the option to draft in players from outside the initial 12 should circumstances demand it, most notably if Wood experiences a setback before the Test begins, preserving their preferred five-seamer configuration. Stokes, alongside Wood, Joe Root, Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope, the only members of the touring party with prior Ashes experience in Australia, has been briefing the newer squad members on what awaits them.
Even so, Stokes conceded that it would be wrong for the group to shut out the atmosphere entirely. He believes the squad must absorb the energy surrounding both the Ashes and the city of Perth, and confront the scale of the challenge ahead of them.
"Everyone in the world, everyone in Australia, everyone in England knows how big this series is. If we were to come out and not accept that and go on that as just another series, then we'd only be lying to ourselves and lying to the fact of what this series is. In particular this team, for myself, Brendan and for Rob (Key) and facing what that feels like, looking it in the eyes, taking it on, not being afraid of the challenge that we have ahead of us,” said Stokes.
"We know it's a huge task coming to Australia and everything that comes with that away from the field, on the field. It is a huge two-and-a-half months for us. Rather than playing it down and not really accepting this moment for what it is, I think maybe we would not really understand what the moment is. So yeah - putting it all out there, letting everyone know the expectations of what it's going to be like in particular because we've got a squad here who have come in and are experiencing Australia for the first time,” he added.
Stokes himself will be making a long-awaited return to action, having not played a competitive match since the fourth Test against India at Emirates Old Trafford. After starring with both bat and ball, claiming a five-wicket haul and scoring a century across the first two innings, he tore a grade-three muscle in his right shoulder during the fourth innings.
The injury ruled him out of the series decider, which India won to level the contest 2-2. He will now be eager to make a strong start to the Ashes, as the Englishmen aim to regain the urn as well as the bragging rights to the oldest rivalry in international cricket.
