Ben Stokes shared a hug with Joe Root and spoke of an “amazing feeling” after seeing his England side regain some respect during this failed Ashes tour with a two-match win on Saturday.
No one in the England team had felt the pain of an eighteen-match winless streak more than the captain and his predecessor. Stokes had played in 13 Tests here without tasting victory, while for Root it was 17. With both men being 34 years old, this tour may have been their last chance.
“It’s a great feeling,” said Stokes, as his side had chased 175 on a bowler-friendly surface that had produced 36 wickets in six sessions. “It is a special feeling to be on the right side of a result after such a long period.
“At the end, when all the boys came out of the locker room, [Root and myself] got a little hug and just said, “We finally won one.” I’m sure there will be a few more words about it later tonight.
“We know Australia is a very difficult place to win a game, let alone a series. It will be another four years before England get back here, but there will be no story that we haven’t won a game – that’s going back to zero now.”
Stokes looked a broken man for this fourth Test, with the tension of being 3-0 down and the criticism of the mid-tour break in Noosa leading him to plead for some empathy from the crowd. The loss of Jofra Archer to a lateral push has only deepened the growing sense of crisis.
“The few days leading up to this Test match were difficult for us,” Stokes said. “The way the leadership group – Baz [the head coach, Brendon McCullum]Myself, the other coaches and senior players – were able to keep as much focus as possible on the cricket that was important.
“Once you cross that line on the field, you put everything else aside and your focus shifts to what you need to do. When you’re not on the field, things can start to flutter around in your head. The way we were able to keep that focus on the cricket was important in why we were able to come out on the right side of the result.”
Stokes singled out Josh Tongue for praise after seven wickets in the crapshoot meant he was named player of the match, while the decision to bring in Jacob Bethell paid off with a top score of 40 in the chase.
“Josh has that natural ability to take wickets that is so hard to come by. He should be very proud of himself because he has bowled some long, big spells and backed them up. He has been phenomenal. Beth played well and came in under a bit of pressure from the first innings. The way he played shows a lot about his character and the confidence he has in himself.”
Regarding the pitch, which is likely to have 10mm of grass left on it and is likely to prompt an investigation by Cricket Australia, Stokes said: “When you go out and you’re faced with conditions you have to get on with it and deal with it. But to be honest, that’s not really what you want. Boxing Day Test match, you don’t want a match to end in less than two days. Not ideal.”
Steve Smith, Australia’s stand-in captain, said: “It was obviously a tough one. Thirty-six wickets over two days [means it] probably just a little too much on offer. The finances aren’t great, I think it was sold out tomorrow. So yeah, disappointing for those [fans] who wanted to come along.”
The nature of the victory means the teams have seven days to recover before the fifth Test in Sydney – a match that could be of great significance for England and the future of McCullum and team director Rob Key. One player who will almost certainly be missing is Gus Atkinson after straining his hamstring, while Matthew Potts is the next player in line for a place in England’s attack.
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