Ben Stokes Accepts England Failed to Handle Key Moments in Brisbane Test

England faced a humiliating defeat against Australia in the second Ashes test at Brisbane. The visitors displayed a similar type of poor performance in both innings, which gave Australia a decisive upper hand. As a result, the home team cruised to victory on the fourth day by chasing a modest target of just 65 runs.

Reflecting on the performance of England after the match, Ben Stokes admitted that his team was unable to handle pressure during the key moments. He said the side performed well in small passages; however, they let those advantages slip away by showing inconsistencies across different departments.

Captain Ben Stokes Calls for Better Planning 

"Very disappointing. A lot of it comes down to not being able to stand up to the pressure of this game, this format, when the game is on the line. In small passages, we've been able to bring the game back into some kind of control, and then we've let it slip away.” said Ben Stokes at the post-match press conference.

He admitted that England repeated the same mistakes again in the Brisbane test, which was very disappointing for him. He said the players are more capable than they have shown on the field, so it is not a good sign for the team.

“We've done that again here this week, and it's very, very disappointing, in particular, because of the ability of the players that we have in that dressing room,” added England test captain, Ben Stokes.

He then urged the team to come up with better plans and try to be more mentally aware of the situation in the next game. The captain also motivated the team to show more fight and grit when it is needed the most in the match.

"We need to think a bit harder and deeper about those moments and what we're taking mentally into those, and overall show a bit more fight when it's needed,” said Ben Stokes.

"We sit there and watch what's going on in front of us, what Australia are looking to throw at us, and what plans they're trying to bowl to. And then it's up to us as players to be able to go out there with a plan and how to negate the threat,” added Ben Stokes.

The England captain then admitted that Australia has outsmarted their tactics in both matches so far. He said the English team is not weak, but they need to find some answers if they want to remain competitive in the remaining Ashes matches.

"To me, it just seems to be a constant theme at the moment, that when you know the game is in a pressure moment, Australia keeps outdoing us. They say Australia isn't a place for weak men. We're definitely not weak, but we need to find something, because we're two-nil down now, we've got three more games to go, and we need to sort it out," said Ben Stokes.

Besides batting, England produced a very poor performance in the fielding department throughout the match. They dropped five catches at crucial moments, which allowed Australia to bat with greater solidity in the middle. As a result, the home side posted a big first innings score on the board that eventually played a big role in deciding the fate of the match.

"A huge part of it was that we had to take 15 wickets. You can't drop catches. They always come back to bite you. And I think it definitely showed there. If we were able to hold on to our chances, we shouldn't have been batting last night [day three],” said Ben Stokes.

“No one means to do that kind of stuff. No one means to drop catches. No one means to not bowl in an area where you set plans to, but, yeah, those kinds of things just can't happen at this level," added Ben Stokes.

Optimism for Upcoming Matches

The captain then shared some motivational words, saying that he still believes in the team despite facing setbacks in both matches. He said the players have all the talent to win the upcoming matches, and he remains optimistic about doing that as their leader.

"Don't panic, don't flap, don't waver, and just have complete and utter belief in our guys as a team. Because I know we can do this. I believe emphatically in the group, I believe empathy, myself, as a captain, as a leader, that I can get the guys into a place where they need to be able to win these next three games," concluded Ben Stokes.