Ben Stokes is determined to keep the Ashes alive in the third Test, and the England captain believes Headingley is the perfect venue for the task at hand. After the intense battles at Edgbaston and the controversies at Lord's, Stokes and his team face a must-win situation as they strive to regain the coveted urn for the first time since 2015.
With the crowd expected to be in a frenzy from the first ball, fueled by the resentment over local hero Jonny Bairstow's contentious stumping incident last Sunday, the stage is set for another unforgettable week. Stokes shared his thoughts on the special aura of Headingley, saying: "I don't know what it is about Headingley. We've had some pretty special memories here and you're always thinking it'd be great to make another one."
He added: "The magical thing that would happen this week is for us to win the game and keep the Ashes alive, to be honest." Stokes acknowledged the significance of previous encounters, remarking: We've got some very fond memories here as an England team and I'm sure supporters have got some fond memories as spectators as well."
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He continued: "The game four years ago was probably the highlight for the guys who were there, but even going back before we were born there was Beefy (Botham) and Bob as well. I think 1981 and 2019 will probably come up at some point around the ground." Stokes praised the passionate Headingley crowd, known for their incredible atmosphere, stating, "The crowd here is amazing, the atmosphere always is too."
He further noted: "When we're on top, they get going even more, but even when things are slow and maybe we're not having the success that we want to in any given situation, they're still going wild. I think they might be a little bit ramped up this week, for some reason."
While Stokes left the last part of that sentence hanging, it's not difficult to decipher his implications. The controversial removal of Bairstow by Alex Carey during a critical moment in England's fourth-innings chase at Lord's has sparked furious debates and triggered a four-day cycle of retaliation. Even Prime Ministers Rishi Sunak and Anthony Albanese felt compelled to join the "spirit of cricket" discussion.
Expressing his disappointment, Stokes urged everyone to move on from the incident, stating, "I think there's obviously been a lot of noise around the incident last week at Lord's but, from me as a captain, I think the best thing that everyone needs to do is just move on from it."
Stokes fully understands the precariousness of England's situation. Losing to Australia on home soil would make him the first captain since 2001 to suffer such a fate. However, he remains optimistic, believing that defeat would not spell the end for the "Bazball" experiment. In fact, he sees the straightforward equation ahead – win, win, and win again – as something that will resonate with his team."
“The Ashes is obviously over if things don’t go well, but the team isn’t over if it doesn’t go well,” he added.
“We will have two games after that and then we’ll have other series after that to keep going. But we understand where we’re at in the series and we know what we need to do.
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