Ben Stokes cannot win his first Ashes as England captain – that ship sailed when the dismal Manchester weather washed out the fourth Test at Old Trafford – but the captain has few regrets about how the series has gone.
It is a testament to his character and the high standards he holds that when pressed his only regret of the series was a dropped catch off Nathan Lyon in the first Test at Edgbaston. Australia went on to win that Test, but it was by no means a bad drop. It would have been a stunning catch, a one-handed diving effort up there with the best of them.
But regret is not something this England team does. The mood is always positive and looking forward rather than analysing or holding onto what could have been.
It was rare that Harry Brook admitted he was “too reckless” at Lord’s, and arguably England were at times during the first two Tests. But since then they have been more measured: Bazball with brains. At Old Trafford everyone in the top seven other than Ben Duckett scored at least a half century, with Zak Crawley going on to make 189.
The run rate during that innings was among the highest it had been all series, and England defended when they needed to and attacked when the opportunity arose in one of the most dominant performances since they scored 500 in a day at Rawalpindi back in November.
Stokes believes it was a case of execution rather than poor decision-making or poor batting, and that has been the main theme since he and Brendon McCullum took charge of the England side. They have stuck by their players, in a way that has left former players envious, and taken away a fear of failure.
“A lot of things come down to execution, especially as a batter. If you don’t execute what you want to do, unfortunately, that can end in your day being over as a batter,” Stokes said. “Everyone has got plans in how they want to go out and play, but if you don’t execute what you want to do then unfortunately, you can be walking off.
“Our execution of plans we wanted to do was very good at Old Trafford.”
Zak Crawley was the star of England’s batting innings at Old Trafford with a score of 189— (PA)
While the rain denied what could have been a thrilling final Test to decide the series, it was the most accomplished England performance, and denying Australia a first Ashes victory overseas for 22 years will still be an achievement, even if Stokes may have to wait for another chance to lift the urn as captain.
Regarding the Oval Test, Stokes said: “It’s a new game and things can play out differently. We just need to go out there and put the same amount of pressure onto Australia as we’ve been trying to throughout this series. I thought the way we did that at Old Trafford, Australia didn’t have an answer, particularly when we had the bat in hand.
“It was great viewing, watching the lads go about their business with the bat. But same old things: completely different game, and we’ll just have to start all over again.”
