00:00For England, Brendan McCullum and Ben Stokes, this Ashes series in Australia is a pivotal one.
00:08The last time that England went down under to face Australia as part of a five-match series,
00:14Brendan McCullum was not the head coach and Ben Stokes was not the captain.
00:18But since they have taken charge of England, they have revolutionised the way that they play test cricket,
00:24meaning that this series could well be England's best chance of winning in Australia since 2010-11.
00:31That series in 2010-11 was not only the last time that England won the Ashes in Australia,
00:38it was the last time that England won a single test match down under,
00:42meaning that Ben Stokes, Brendan McCullum and the rest of the England set-up have many wrongs to right this time round.
00:49But they are perhaps the most capable England side since then of doing just that.
00:55Whether they'll do that, though, of course, remains to be seen.
00:58But Ben Stokes, ahead of the first test in Perth, was confident in what he and his side can achieve.
01:07Once I'm done here, we're good to go.
01:09So it's been a big build-up, as always, every Ashes series is, whether it's in England or Australia.
01:16But, yeah, it's great.
01:19Something that, when you're a kid, you look at and go,
01:26oh, I'd love to be there one day.
01:28So, yeah, now we're here on day before, day one of what's going to be a pretty tough and gruelling two and a half months.
01:36There's no doubt that we as players know how excited everyone is for the series.
01:41We know we've got quite a few English fans coming over.
01:45I mean, Barmy Army, they go everywhere we go.
01:48But we know we've got a lot of people coming out here to support us.
01:51So definitely over the last couple of days, even when we've got your time off and we try and get out and about,
01:58there's a lot of English people here.
02:00So, yeah, really looking forward to what kind of reception we're going to get tomorrow.
02:06I mean, this is my first time playing at this stadium in particular.
02:10Didn't mind the whacker last time, to be honest.
02:12They're all right there.
02:14But, look, coming to Australia, playing against Australia,
02:20and just, they're a seriously good team.
02:23And, you know, everyone's, including myself, including the team,
02:28and all you guys know that the record of England, you know,
02:32over the history of Ash as a series in Australia isn't the best.
02:37But, you know, we've got an opportunity here over the next two and a half months
02:40to sort of, you know, write our own history.
02:44We've obviously come here with the goal,
02:45and that goal is to get on that plane mid-January,
02:49returning to England, being Ash's winners.
02:51But we know it's going to be very, very tough.
02:53It's going to be hard.
02:54Because, yeah, beating Australia in Australia is not an easy thing.
03:00Yeah, I think he's done a terrific job with England
03:01over the last couple of years.
03:03You know, the style that they play, I guess, suits them,
03:07led by him and Baz, obviously.
03:09So, look, he's done a great job.
03:12And, yeah, potentially someone that you don't want to get too riled up.
03:15He's had a few performances against us
03:17where he's, you know, either taken the game away from us
03:22or clawed it back.
03:23So, you know, he's a quality performer,
03:25whether it's bat ball or in the field,
03:27he's always in the game and giving 110%.
03:30So, yeah, hopefully we can keep him quiet this series.
03:34He's pretty standard.
03:35I've been involved in a few now,
03:37and there's always so many words said before the series.
03:41But for us, I think it's about just ignoring the outside noise,
03:45concentrating on our processes, what we do well as a team,
03:50and trusting and backing that throughout.
03:54It's exciting that we're starting tomorrow.
03:57Everyone's been raring to go for the last few days of training
04:00and even before that.
04:02So, yeah, all starts tomorrow
04:05and hopefully give you guys something good to talk about out in the middle.
04:09Australia being without their usual captain and fast bowler Pat Cummins,
04:13as well as fast bowler Josh Hazelwood,
04:16is a big blow for them
04:18and, of course, a huge plus for England.
04:21And, therefore, England will likely attack this first test match in Perth
04:25with everything they have
04:27in order to get a 1-0 lead in the series.
04:31Obviously, the series has not won or lost on that first game in Perth,
04:36but if England can get a 1-0 lead,
04:38that might just be the catalyst for a memorable series in Australia.
04:42So, yeah.
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