Ben Stokes promised his England side will not back down and compromise their attacking approach despite heavy criticism of his tactics when the Ashes series resumes at Lord’s on Wednesday.
England are 1-0 down following a two-wicket defeat in a stunning Test at Edgbaston, where Test captain Stokes was slammed for his early declaration on the opening day as well as the laissez-faire nature of their second-innings dismissals.
The decisions attracted criticism from several former England players, none stronger than Sir Geoffrey Boycott who warned Stokes on the eve of the Lord’s Test that “if you’re just going to entertain then go and join the circus”.
“I enjoyed the cricket, it kept you on the edge of your seat,” Boycott said on Telegraph Sport’s Vaughany and Tuffers Cricket Club podcast. “England were winning every session, but they didn’t win the match, and that should tell them something for the next Test. They lost sight of the fact that the object is to win and then if you want to entertain then yes, by all means. But why can’t you win and entertain?
“When you get ahead of yourself – and that’s what England did – they stopped thinking. If you’re going to just entertain, they might as well be a circus. That’s it, go be a professional circus around the world. If you ask people in England ‘Do you want to win the Ashes, or do you want to entertain and lose?’, I know what the answer will be.”
Stokes will not be swayed though in his preference to put eye-catching cricket before a more methodical approach, and insisted that he would never settle for a draw.
“Absolutely not,” Stokes said. “I would not prefer to be 2-0 down, let’s say if it rains for four days it’s going to be hard to get a result then, but over a Test match you’ve got so many opportunities to try and do something to edge the game to a result.
Ashes fixtures and full schedule
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First Test, Edgbaston, Birmingham – June 16-20 (Australia win by two wickets)
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Second Test, Lord’s, London – June 28-July 2
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Third Test, Headingley, Leeds – July 6-10
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Fourth Test, Old Trafford, Manchester – July 19-23
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Fifth Test, The Oval, London – July 27-31
Trent Bridge has missed out on hosting a men’s test, although it is the venue for the one-off Test in the women’s Ashes.
What time does each Test match start?
All five Tests are designated ‘day’ matches, commencing at 11am BST, and each day’s play is scheduled to last until 6pm, although time can be made up to 6.30pm, if no breaks in play, to facilitate 90 overs. Lunch will be at 1pm and last for 40 minutes and tea at 3.40pm for 20 minutes.
What is England’s record in the Ashes at each ground?
What TV channel is the Ashes on? How can I follow it in the UK?
Live coverage
Sky has the rights for domestic Tests and is broadcasting all five matches exclusively live on Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event.
More people tuned into the Edgbaston Test than any other in Sky’s history, with the peak audience of 2.12 million narrowly beating the figures for the 2019 Ashes Test at Headingley, when Ben Stokes marshalled an extraordinary England heist.
TV highlights
The BBC has a highlights package and shows Today at the Test on BBC2 at 7pm after each day’s play.
Radio coverage
The BBC has the radio rights for domestic Tests and features ball-by-ball coverage (unless you are listening on longwave during the shipping forecast) on Radio 5 Live Sports Extra and via the BBC Sounds app.
TMS coverage is led as usual by Jonathan Agnew, alongside what it calls “an iconic commentary team” comprising Isa Guha, Simon Mann, Alison Mitchell, Daniel Norcross and Jim Maxwell, with summarisers Michael Vaughan, Sir Alastair Cook, Phil Tufnell, Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie, Ebony Rainford Brent, Vic Marks and Alex Hartley. Andy Zaltzman returns as scorer.
Who is in the Ashes squads?
Australia squad for first two Tests
Pat Cummins (captain), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vice-captain), Mitchell Starc, David Warner.
England squad for first two Ashes Tests
Ben Stokes (captain), Moeen Ali, Rehan Ahmed, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.
England made a surprise selection call by picking Josh Tongue over Moeen Ali.
What the players are saying
Adding to his argument that Joe Root’s attacking instincts helped Australia’s victory cause at Edgbaston Marnus Labuschagne claims the England batsman could have easily taken the game away from the tourists.
“I use that second innings as an example. He probably had an opportunity to shut us out and take the game away from us completely,” the Australian said.
“But the method and the way he was playing kept us in the game… he played an unbelievable innings but he ended up getting 40 and if turns that 40 into 80-plus we’re chasing 300 and that’s going to be a pretty big effort.
“So I think that’s the benefit for us the way they’re playing. They’re playing aggressive cricket and he’s doing it with a different method, which is great, but it brings in other opportunities for us. Hopefully at some point in the series that will keep paying off.”
Australia have been criticised for their “defensive” strategy by England players including Ollie Robinson, who has taken on the status of “public enemy No 1” Down Under, but victory vindicated the strategy.
Labuschagne has his quietest Test for four years with the bat, being dismissed twice by Stuart Broad for a first-ball duck and 13.
“They were very uncharacteristic dismissals to how I’ve usually played, that’s why I was pretty frustrated with myself to get out that way and asked myself the question, ‘Why did I play at those deliveries’,” Labuschagne said. “I’ve come up with my own summation of what that is; if there’s anything I can do tactically or technically to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“It’s a rarity that I’d play at those balls, so it’s not something I’m going to overthink, but I hold myself to a much higher standard than those dismissals.”
Pat Cummins: Australia are yet to produce their best
The exact shape of Australia’s XI will not be confirmed until the morning of the Test, as Pat Cummins mulls whether to replace Scott Boland with Mitchell Starc. Cummins said a Test at Lord’s was the pinnacle for an Australian cricketer: “like Augusta for golf or Wimbledon for tennis”.
Cummins believes that Australia will improve, not least because Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith, two of the best batsmen in the world, combined for just 35 runs at Edgbaston.
“I don’t think we played the complete game last week by a long shot. I think that is one of the most pleasing things that we weren’t at our best but still managed to get over the line. That is not always going to be the case. History would suggest Marnus and Smithy rarely miss out, so I am expecting a big week from them.”
What is the recent history of the Ashes?
England are bidding to regain the Ashes for the first time since 2017. Going into the series, Ben Stokes’s side had an awful lot going for them, winning 10 of their first 12 Tests under his captaincy, and also enjoy a superior record in the past five home series against their most venerable opponent, four of which were won and the last, in 2019, drawn.
After losing the first Ashes of the 21st century 4-1 on Steve Waugh’s last tour here, England won back the Ashes in memorable style in 2005, regained them in 2009, both times by margins of 2-1, retained them 3-0 in 2013, won them back by 3-2 in 2015 and rallied to square the series 2-2 four years ago even though they were unable to prevent the holders preserving their possession of the urn.
In the 1980s and 1990s England’s home Ashes series were elongated to encompass six Tests but since the conclusion of Australia’s 1997 tour they have been wisely reduced to five and that remains the format this time around.
There is one significant and controversial difference, however, because of the 50-over World Cup in October, which England will begin as defending champions, and the desire of the England and Wales Cricket Board to give its Hundred competition an August showcase, the marquee Test series will take part before high summer and only the final Test will be held after the state schools break up for the long holiday.
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