England suffered a crushing two-wicket defeat to Australia in the first match of the Ashes 2023 at Edgbaston, Birmingham on Tuesday, June 20. defended his decision and said that he would not change his style of cricket in the remaining four Tests.
The hosts were in control of the game when Australia, chasing 281, lost their eighth wicket for just 227 runs. But Pat Cummins It took the captain’s innings of 44* off 73 balls to snatch a memorable victory. Stokes’ first innings announcement on the first day Joe Root Batting on 118*, there was a lot of criticism from former cricketers including captain Michael Vaughan.
Vaughan criticized Stokes’ early declaration and hoped the all-rounder would not make the same mistake in the second Test at Lord’s. Asked if he would repeat the same decision at Lord’s, Stokes replied that he would do it again if England were at 398/6 with 20 minutes left to bowl.
“If we were in the same position? Yeah. I’d be 398 for 6 [sic] With 20 minutes left. Stokes told reporters after the defeat, “It will be great.” I’m not 100 per cent sure, but I’m not looking at this game as a ‘what if’… The reality is we didn’t get past the limit.”
Stokes also made it clear that he has got the chance to pounce on Australia to start the second day on top and he will not change his cricket depending on what may happen.
“I thought it was time to bounce back. I’m not going to change the way I go about my cricket because it’s Ashes, Who knows? We could have scored an extra 40 runs or lost two wickets in two balls. I am not the kind of captain who can walk away if it happens. We saw it as an opportunity to pounce on Australia and really start the second day on top,” Stokes said.