England Cricket Captain Ben Stokes has made clear that he and Head Coach Brendon McCullum know what is required from England as they head into the Second Ashes Test in Brisbane, following their damaging defeat in the series opener inside two days in Perth.
00:00After encouragement with the ball on day one in Perth, day two's batting collapse from England was so calamitous that supporters in the crowd found other ways to entertain themselves.
00:14England, no vast improvements are needed in Brisbane, with captain Ben Stokes remaining level-headed ahead of the day-night test.
00:22We've been in situations where we have been behind series before and it's our attitude that I think stands out that allows us to move on to the next game through good and through bad.
00:43We're a very good team at dealing with emotions when we need to think about what we've got coming up next.
00:50I'm a pretty level-headed person in terms of success and failure so I'll wake up in the morning and still be incredibly disappointed but all of my focus and all of my energy will be going into getting the group back up and moving our thoughts and what we need to do on to Brisbane.
01:18Yeah, that's one of the things about leadership is obviously it's pretty easy when things are going swimmingly well to be able to move on to the next one and it might be a little bit more difficult to do it when you're leaving with disappointment from a game to the next one.
01:38But that's the great thing about this role is that you have more responsibility than just out on the field.
01:48We've been here before, we know what it's like to lose a game.
01:51So, look, we know that we are a good team at bouncing back and it's up to me and Brendan and the other senior guys over the next however many days we've got before the next one to make sure that we're in the right place mentally, that we need to be in to go into that Brisbane game and come out with a result.
02:14But, you know, we've got stuff to do moving forward and, you know, we know what we need to do and, yeah, me and Basil will do the right thing.
02:24Stokes is remaining resolute and maintaining faith in England's approach in Australia ahead of the next test in Brisbane, England have elected not to send any first team players to play in a warm-up match in Canberra, a move which has been criticised by some cricket journalists, especially given the prowess shown by Australian batters in the first test in Perth.
02:48Travis Head scored a remarkable century and Steve Smith captained his side well to the victory in the first test.
02:55I thought it was the right opportunity to do it. We probably, like Steve said, we probably missed the trick a little bit in the first thing. So I just felt like we lined up better that way.
03:03I played a lot of cricket with Jake as well, so I was pretty keen to try and take some pressure off him.
03:07I just felt like the moment was right. To have two batting behind Martin Smudge at three and four feels right. It feels like that's settled.
03:15Two high-quality players who have an exceptional record here.
03:18Batting in the first things after 30 overs, it felt like the ball got a bit easier.
03:22So to have two blokes, potentially if I could do the job with Jake, to have got two guys that averaged close to 60 in test cricket to come in at that stage is pretty good.
03:29So I felt like everything lined up that was the right decision.
03:33They still had to make that decision, but I was pretty bullish around the fact that I felt like I could do it.
03:37Again, take some pressure off Jake at the other end, try and take some pressure off the guys behind me and who knows if it was going to go well or not.
03:44But I was just pleased the way I started and sort of when we got around that 40-50 partnership, it felt like it was right there for the taking and felt like I'd set the game up pretty well for the guys behind me if it wasn't going to continue on.
03:56Yeah, we want to win every game, but they're a good side.
04:00They've played good cricket for a long time and we know the style of play that they have.
04:06They're going to have their moments where they come off and players are going to score quickly and get away from us at times.
04:13And I think it's just about being calm in those moments and trying to come up with plans to either slow them down or get them out and a mixture of two at times.
04:24But yeah, look, they're a good side and I'm sure they're going to come back hard.
04:28England will have to bounce back in Brisbane to avoid the series getting away from them completely.
04:33The question now is whether Stokes and McCollum elect to make changes to the 11 heading into the day-night test and if they do, whether they work.
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