He scored an unbeaten 39 in the last fixture.
After a total of 20 wickets fell on the opening day at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), the fate of the Ashes 2025 4th Test was evenly poised. But the England fans were taken aback as pacer Brydon Carse came in at No.3 instead of Jacob Bethell, while the visitors still needed 124 runs with nine wickets in hand.
The skipper emphasised the England batters’ average run in the tour so far while acknowledging the lower-order efforts as the reason behind the move. Previously, Jofra Archer contributed a few valuable runs, including a half-century, before getting ruled out of the series.
Moreover, pacer Gus Atkinson, who replaced Archer in the playing XI for the fixture, also chipped in with a crucial contribution. He scored 28 runs and was only the third player of the England lineup to put up a double-digit score in the first innings.
“You look at how all the top-order batters were just struggling to find a way to score runs and the ones who scored runs were down the order. The way that Brooky [Harry Brook] took it on in the first innings, looking to be very proactive, trying to knock bowlers off their length and put them under pressure. We thought it was something we were willing to risk,” stated the skipper.
However, Carse has revealed that the decision was conveyed to him early in the innings by the head coach, Brendon McCullum. But their trick to promote the bowler at No.3 did not prove to be successful. The 30-year-old, who has two First-Class centuries and six fifties to his name, managed to face just eight balls in the fourth innings, adding six runs to the tally.
“If it did come off and get a quick 30-40, that’s huge in little run chases like this. It didn’t work out that way, but there was a method to the mayhem. I wouldn’t say it was funny. It was a tactical plan that unfortunately didn’t pay off for us,” Stokes added.
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Coming on the back of three successive clean sweeps on Australian soil and as many consecutive defeats in the series, Stokes and Co. have pulled off a massive victory to register their maiden Test win after 15 years.
Though the hosts have clinched the marquee five-match rubber, England would want to carry on the winning momentum in Sydney in a bid to finish off the series on a high. The two sides will next clash in the fifth and final fixture of the series, starting on January 4.
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