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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Simon Burnton at the Gabba

Ben Stokes says England have been ‘letting the pressure get to us’ in Ashes

Ben Stokes vents his frustration after being dismissed in England’s second innings of the second Ashes Test in Brisbane
Ben Stokes vents his frustration after being dismissed in England’s second innings of the second Ashes Test in Brisbane. Photograph: Nigel Owen/Action Plus/Shutterstock

Ben Stokes has admitted that the way England have folded in key moments during the first two Ashes Tests has led him to question the character of his players, and said: “A dressing room that I am captain of isn’t a place for weak men.”

After Australia won the second Test in Brisbane by the same eight-wicket margin with which they secured the first, Stokes suggested the telling difference was that the home side had been superior in the “moments in the game where the heat is on and the pressure is really, really cooking” whereas his players “have all been guilty at moments [of] letting the pressure, the occasion, the circumstances, get to us”.

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