The Ashes: Ben Stokes promises to be 'ruthless' in response to England's 4-1 series drubbing in Australia

Ben Stokes said he's not afraid to show his "ruthless" side as he looks to lead England's recovery from their 4-1 Ashes drubbing to Australia, adding that the tourists had played "too much 3/10 cricket" over the series. 

England lost the series within 11 days' play as Australia won the first three Tests in convincing fashion, before Stokes' side claimed a consolation victory inside two days on a poor pitch in Melbourne and were edged out by five wickets in the final Test.

England made Australia sweat when reducing them to 121-5 when chasing 160 on the final day in Sydney, with Stokes pinning the defeat on the 183-run deficit surrendered on first innings.

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"We should have got 100 more [than 384] and we let Australia get 100 too many [on 567]," Stokes told TNT Sports. "That's happened a lot throughout the series.

"Australia have played very, very good cricket. You've got to compliment them on that and give them respect, but we've also had a lot of moments where we've done a lot of the damage to ourselves.

"In a massive series like the Ashes, playing against a huge team, if you make mistakes as a team it's just not going to end well."

Stokes added: "I think for a while teams have understood how to operate against us. When we get into a situation with the bat where things look easy, opposition sides are doing a lot of the same things to us now.

"We need to work out what we do in those situations. We play too much 3/10 cricket, and if you play like that the likelihood is it's not going to fall your way in big moments.

"I have seen it a lot in this series and in other series before."

After suffering such a convincing series defeat, there has been talk surrounding the futures of Stokes, head coach Brendon McCullum and managing director Rob Key, but Stokes reiterated his desire to continue and lead a "recalibration" with the England Test team, promising to be "ruthless" if needed.

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"How we develop is by being pretty honest and straightforward," Stokes said. "You don't progress unless you have those conversations.

"I've been young and had some things thrown at me that I didn't quite like, but I can look back now and know that it was told to me for the right reasons.

"I just want the best for the guys in the dressing room and to give them the best chance of being very successful international players, which I know they can be. We just need a recalibration.

"We did some unbelievable things as a team in the first couple of years [under McCullum], not only in terms of results but getting the best out of people who might not have known they were as good as they were.

"Now it's about making sure we do that consistently."

Stokes added: "That's where it's up to me, Brendon, Rob - the guys that sit above the players - to put together something that shows this is what we expect.

"I have a ruthless side to me. If people aren't willing to meet those expectations.

"I can do a much better job as leader, as captain. We made some big mistakes out here as players, I made big mistakes as captain, and you've just got to be big and brave enough to tell yourself that as an individual.

"This isn't a blame culture. As soon as that starts creeping into anything, that is the downfall of everything.

"It's about taking responsibility and ownership, really understanding where we're at, if we want to take ourselves to the next level again."

Ashes series in Australia 2025-26

Australia win five-match series 4-1

• First Test (Perth): Australia won by eight wickets
• Second Test (Brisbane): Australia won by eight wickets
• Third Test (Adelaide): Australia won by 82 runs
• Fourth Test (Melbourne): England won by four wickets
• Fifth Test (Sydney): Australia won by five wickets