England have kept the Ashes alive with a three-wicket win in the third Test at Headingley; England captain Ben Stokes believes his side can still improve as they hunt for two more wins; watch fourth Test from Old Trafford, live on Sky Sports Cricket from July 19
Monday 10 July 2023 11:40, UK
Ben Stokes believes that England's nerve-wracking win in the third Ashes Test at Headingley is "just the start" as his side began their fightback in the series.
Chasing 251 runs for victory, Harry Brook's 75 from 93 balls coupled with cameos from Chris Woakes (32no) and Mark Wood (16no off 8) with the bat sealed the vital win for England and brought the series to 2-1 in Australia's favour heading into the fourth Test in Manchester.
After narrow defeats at Edgbaston and Lord's, a crucial win sets the series up perfectly and England skipper Stokes believes it is just the start of his side doing what they "need to" to secure victories.
"I think if you look at the first two games in terms of how tight they were, getting over the line in another tight game can mentally help," said Stokes.
"So you sort of flip it round and if we didn't win this one and it's tight again, you sort of think 'it's just not meant to be'.
"But obviously we're over the moon that we won this one, it's just the start of what we know we need to do.
"It doesn't change. After the Lord's game, before this game, before the game in Manchester, we just have to do exactly the same thing: play cricket and hopefully get the result."
Stokes put in a match-defining stint with the bat in the first innings as he smashed 80 runs from 108 balls to keep his side in the game. However, as he was dismissed for 13 runs from just 15 balls in the second innings, he admitted it was a nervous wait to see if his side could get the win over the line.
"I'm not gonna lie, I was a bit nervous at the end. I walked about 2km around the Headingley dressing room in the last half-hour, I didn't actually watch the last 20 runs being scored," he added.
"It's a completely different place when you can't do anything, when you can't influence the game any more, you're left watching and hoping things are going to go your way.
"But in terms of where the series was at before this game started the whole performance with bat, ball, field… it was just an unbelievable effort from everybody."
Although England now have a win on the board, Stokes believes his side still have a lot of room for improvement heading into the final two Tests and they will do everything they can to back up the win in Leeds.
"I still think we can be better. The thing about cricket is no one has the perfect answer to everything, that is how it should be played," Stokes said.
"Everything will be assessed on the outcome. That would always be the case, no one ever has the perfect answer for how it should be played.
"We can be better in certain areas, and that's all we can do, keep trying to be better and better and as clear as we possibly can as a team.
"People always seem to have an answer after the fact. I don't think anyone will ever crack it, that's why it's such a great game."
Watch day one of the fourth Ashes Test live on Sky Sports Cricket on Wednesday July 19. Build-up from 10am, first ball at 11am. You can stream the men's and women's Ashes series on NOW.
