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Ben Stokes claimed England live “rent free” in Australians’ head after Fox Sports called his statements in a documentary about the 2023 Ashes a “bizarre claim”.
As the rain fell at Old Trafford, a game England had dominated from the outset, and looked poised to make the series level at 2-2 before the final Test at the Oval, Stokes made a speech to his side.
Ultimately the rain scuppered all chance of a thrilling decider and the series finished in a 2-2 draw, with Australia retaining the urn. But Stokes’ words from the third Test were shown in an ECB documentary released this week.
“Everything we’ve done up until now isn’t going to stop because we haven’t managed to win the urn back,” Stokes said.
“The reward for our work isn’t what we get but what we become.
“And what we have managed to do is we’ve managed to become a sports team that will live forever in the memory of people who were lucky enough to witness us play cricket.
“I know it’s going to be a bit flat, I know it’s going to hurt that we go into the next game (at The Oval) not being able to get the urn back.
“But what we have done is something a lot bigger than any Ashes trophy could ever signify for this team – be the team that everybody will always remember.”
England have not won the Ashes since 2015, but Australia have not won it overseas since 2001.
Stokes and Brendon McCullum revolutionised English cricket when they took over in the spring of 2022, with a desire to make Test cricket enjoyable, both for those playing and watching.
Fox Cricket posted an article with Stokes’ quotes from Old Trafford along with the comment: “…right, yeah, sure.”
Stokes took the bait, and replied on the social media platform: “Said this to the team who had watched it rain for 2 days when we had our foot on your throats, just tried to cheer up the disappointment tbh (to be honest), but anyways rent free and all that”.
