Ben Stokes has accepted the criticism that followed his England side’s two-day defeat in Perth as part of his results business, but said he draws a line at the idea that his players were ‘arrogant’ in their approach.
That particular word was used by former Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson in a strongly worded column for the Western Australian newspaper and has been a theme of the wider response.
The majority of England players sitting out a two-day tour match in Canberra this week in favor of extra training in Brisbane only added fuel to the fire.
Perceptions can only really be changed halfway through, but the scale of the task ahead of England is now significant. This much-hyped Ashes series resumes with a second day-night Test starting on Thursday at the Gabba – a ground where England last witnessed victory in 1986.
“I think arrogance might be going a bit too far, but that’s okay,” Stokes said before England started training with the pink Kookaburra ball at Allan Border Field in Brisbane on Saturday morning.
“We take the rough with the smooth. You can call us rubbish, call us whatever you want. I prefer words like ‘rubbish’, but ‘arrogant’… I’m not so sure.
“We didn’t have the Test match we wanted, but we were great in passages of that match.”
Asked about the reaction of supporters, both the thousands who made the trip to Australia and those who watched all night at home, Stokes said: “It’s a results-oriented job we’re in. We love our fans.
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“We know we have an incredible fan base that comes out here and supports us. They want to see us win. We want to win. We’re absolutely desperate. They’re absolutely desperate. We’re all on the same page. We’re absolutely desperate.”
“We are doing absolutely everything within our power and using our time as best we can to enable us to achieve that goal.”
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