Ben Stokes has challenged his side to to set-up an Ashes series decider to rival 2005, but hopes the cricket “craze” inspired by this summer’s series will not fade should England fail to win back the Urn.
The most hyped Ashes series since the 2005 classic has so far lived up to the billing with all three Tests going down to the wire. Two of those have gone Australia’s way, however, meaning England must win the two remaining contests to complete a comeback from 2-0 down to win the series 3-2.
England took a 2-1 lead to the Fifth Test at the Oval in 2005, where a rain-affected draw saw the home side complete a famous series win. Victory for Stokes’s men in Manchester this week, however, would send the two teams to London locked at 2-2 and arguably tee up an even grander finale.
“It would be amazing,” Stokes said. “We’re focusing more on winning this game and going to the Oval 2-2 but then if we take a step back, that last game would be everywhere, it would be great to be part of.
“If that does happen and we do go to the Oval, we’ll be challenging 2005 for one of the best series in England.”
The country has been captivated by three gripping Test matches and England’s aggressive style of play implemented under Stokes and Brendon McCullum over the course of the last 12 months.
Captaincies tend to be defined, however, by Ashes failure or success but Stokes is hopeful that the broader impact of his side’s performances would survive an Australian victory.
“I think it’s quite similar to 2019, with the World Cup and the Ashes going on in the same year, obviously it was a very similar feel,” Stokes added. “This year, there have been more people who have actually come up and said they hadn’t had much interest in cricket until this summer, or from last summer.
“This year I think we have captured the imagination of a few more people, whereas 2019 felt like we were getting a lot of cricket fans coming up to us and saying well done. Now, it’s more people who don’t even like cricket.
“I hope this craze around cricket doesn’t get lost if things don’t go the way in this Ashes. There’s plenty of Test matches still to be played after the series is finished and we won’t be changing our ideas or ethos while Baz is still leading the team.”
