The Ashes 2025-26 kicked off in the worst possible way for England. Taking on Australia in the first Test of the series at the Perth Stadium, England were completely outclassed in every department, as the likes of Mitchell Starc and Travis Head performed exceptionally well to hand them a loss in the first Test.
England gave Australia a target of 205 runs to chase down in the second innings, hoping it would be enough. However, an exceptional ton by Travis Head saw the Aussies ultimately register an eight-wicket win as they took the lead in the series.
Speaking of his performance and the loss, England skipper Ben Stokes took centre stage and talked about how shocked he was to witness Head’s knock and reflected on other aspects of the clash.
"Little bit shellshocked. Pretty phenomenal from Head. Pretty raw, pretty fresh, but that was some knock. The guys who had success were really brave and took the game on. If you find yourself in the position of getting in, you have to try and go on. Travis has knocked the wind out of us there. The guys who took it on and put their best bowlers under pressure found success on that [surface],” Ben Stokes said in the post-match presentation ceremony.
Stokes pointed out the positives in the clash
Furthermore, Stokes talked about the few positives that he found in England’s game against Australia, crediting his side’s performance with the ball on day 1 of the clash.
“We tried three or four different plans to him, but when he's going like a train, he's very hard to stop. [Positives] The way in which we bowled yesterday was phenomenal. A lot happened on day one, a good day for the bowlers. Tough one, as we felt we were in control. Let this sink in, but we've got four more games. Long time before Brisbane, we'll go away and put in the graft,” Stokes said.
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