England captain Ben Stokes has demanded his players toughen up after Australia delivered another embarrassing defeat that left the Ashes hanging by a thread, making clear that the team represents “not a place for weak men”.
Australia has crushed England by eight wickets in both Perth and Brisbane, leaving the tourists reeling just two Tests into the five-match series.
England confronts an almost impossible task of winning the final three Tests to regain the Ashes, prompting Stokes to demand more fire from his players.
“There is a saying that we have said a lot here — Australia is not for weak men,” Stokes told the BBC. “A dressing room that I captain is not a place for weak men either.”
Stokes particularly criticised England’s tendency to crumble during pressure moments, contrasting this with Australia’s ability to dig deep and seize the upper hand.
“Do we need to start thinking about what mentality we take into those pressure moments?” Stokes questioned. “When we dominate, we excel, and when the game puts us behind, we also perform very well, but when that moment reaches neck and neck, we fail to emerge on top on enough occasions.”
Former England great Geoffrey Boycott delivered a scathing assessment.
“Brisbane presented a horror show: irresponsible batting, bowling too short, too wide or too full, and dropped catches,” he wrote in a newspaper column. “With this sort of batting and bowling, they could not win an egg cup, let alone the Ashes urn.”
England have more than a week to regroup before the must-win third Test in Adelaide on 17 December, where Australia will strengthen their position with the return of skipper Pat Cummins.
However, a scheduled four-day mini holiday on the beach at tourist playground Noosa following two crushing defeats may not present the best appearance.
Stokes defended the decision, emphasising the importance of allowing players to decompress.
“We have spent four weeks here, and they have proved pretty intense,” he told reporters. “Whilst this game demands physical strength, a huge part also involves the mental side. I understand that. I have experienced that.
“I know what the game can inflict upon you when things do not feel quite right or progress well. Trust me when I say teams absolutely must possess the ability to go away as a unit and almost set the pressures aside for a couple of days,” he added.
Adding to England’s troubles, critics have slammed McCullum for suggesting the team “trained too much” before the day-night clash in Brisbane.
Following the Perth defeat, England chose against placing their first-choice players into a pink-ball tour game in Canberra and instead conducted five intense sessions in the Brisbane nets.
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