Ben Stokes has always been England’s man of the moment, but he was left “devasted” as Australia drew first blood with a marginal two wicket victory at Edgbaston.
It had almost been meant to be, when Stokes brought himself on to bowl to claim the crucial wicket of Usman Khawaja and bring an end to his watchful 65 from 197, it looked as if the momentum had shifted in England’s favour.
However, later in the session, Stokes was left sprawled on his back having spilled a catch. It would have been a stunning diving effort, but as he landed the ball spilled out, and that was it.
At that point Australia needed 36 runs to win, but Nathan Lyon would offer no more chances and, with Pat Cummins, he led Australia to victory as they chased 281 to win.
It may go down as one of the greatest Ashes victories from an Australian side not known for their wins by close margins.
The match had already evoked strong memories of the 2005 Ashes, where at Edgbaston, England won by just two runs, it is worth noting however, that the home side lost the first match of that series as well, before going on to win in one of the moments that inspired a generation to pick up a cricket bat.
“It’s obviously devastating to be on the losing end of that, going down to the wire with the emotions of that whole day... to get to the end there, eight down with 50 to win you’re thinking we’re just one wicket away but you can never count Australia out,” Stokes said.
“Pat [Cummins] has dug in there and got them over the line. But in terms of the output of the game and what people have witnessed, that’s what we’re trying to achieve as a team.
“Everyone would have been on the edge of their seat here and everyone at home will have been glued to their TV. That’s what we want to be remembered as a team.
“That’s the thing about not being a results driven team.”
England have been clear about how they wanted to play from the outset, and while on this occasion it did not come off, it has set the tone for the series.
“It’s not a psychological blow at all,” Stokes said.
“We’ve lost and it’s disappointing but if you look at the way we’ve played over the last five days compared to how the last few Ashes series have gone proves what we’re capable of doing against Australia.
“The way we applied ourselves literally from ball one proves we’re able to stand up to Australia. There was a big question coming into this series about whether we’re still able to continue with this style of play against such a good Australian team?
“Even though we’re on the wrong end of the result here, it proves we went toe-to-toe throughout the whole game against Australia. We’ve got four games left and that’s what we’re going to be concentrating on.”
