Ben Stokes has urged his England team to unleash “the dog” in them to keep the Ashes alive ahead of a decisive third Test in Adelaide.Trailing 2-0 to Australia after two different but equally harrowing eight-wicket defeats, the England captain has lit a fire under his charges, urging them to show more fight ahead of what will be the biggest match of his tenure.Since taking over in the summer of 2022, Stokes has tended towards a more holistic approach, encouraging players to express themselves in ways they see fit. Now, in the City of Churches, he has called for something akin to Old Testament fury – to challenge Australia head-on in what will be a defining week for his tenure, and that of head coach Brendon McCullum.Asked how he would define that need for more “fight” after two meek Tests, Stokes insisted the word would show itself differently in each player. But the sentiment, he believed, was to look squarely back at Australia and not relent.”What it [fight] means to me could be completely different to someone else,” Stokes said. “It’s just trying to fight in every situation that you find yourself in and understanding the situation and what you feel is required for your team. Just look at your opposition every single time and show a bit of dog. That’s fight to me.”It comes a lot easier to me, it might be a lot harder for other people because of their personalities or whatever that may be. I’m not going to expect or ask a completely different character to me to carry on like me. That’s like asking me to carry on like someone like Jamie Smith, who’s a lot more laid back. It just wouldn’t work. However, you find the best way to find that mode that I’m talking about, that’s probably the best way to explain it.”It was a sentiment Stokes first put across with his own actions, after resuming his seventh-wicket stand with Will Jacks on the morning of the final day of the second Test. The pair’s 96 from 221 deliveries was a welcome show of resistance, even if it only delayed Australia’s win.”I could have gone out there on that morning session in Brisbane and nicked off first ball, but going out there with that mentality and that mindset is what fight is to me.”As long as you go out there and everyone is in that mindset around the situation and what is needed, you’re giving yourself the best possible chance if you’ve got a bit of dog in you.”Ahead of the final passage of the second Test at The Gabba, Stokes urged one last scrap. With Australia needing just 65 for victory, he knew the match was gone. But rather than lean on tropes – “I didn’t go out there and say the cliché thing of ‘you never know’ – he encouraged Jofra Archer to ramp it up to give the home batters something to think about as they left Brisbane.Related
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Archer subsequently bowled one of his fastest spells in an England shirt. And though he was subject to what Stokes describes as “unfair criticism” for summoning those speeds in a lost cause, Archer did exactly what his skipper asked of him.”That was one of those moments when I asked him to really turn it on because I needed that to be a marker for us to carry into Adelaide,” Stokes said. “I thought that that was a really, really important moment for us in the series.”Stokes doubled down on that message later that same day, stating in his post-match press conference that his dressing-room “isn’t a place for weak men”. It was a sentiment that percolated around the squad during their four-day break in Noosa, which Stokes facilitated with individual and group conversations. On Sunday, he reiterated that message to the whole squad in the Adelaide Oval away dressing-room, midway through England’s first training session ahead of the third Test.One of the key examples that Stokes brought up was the recent Test against India at Lord’s. After Zak Crawley’s time-wasting at the dregs of day three drew understandable ire from the visitors, led by their captain Shubman Gill, England decided to bite back. In doing so, they were able to push the game along to such an extent that they triumphed in an emotionally charged finale late on day five. Of course, England did not go on and win the series, as India responded emphatically with a valiant draw at Emirates Old Trafford and then a blockbuster win at the Kia Oval. The series was drawn 2-2, meaning that Stokes is still searching for his first victory as captain in a five-match series. Nevertheless, he pointed to Lord’s as an example of the dog that resides in this group that must be accessed.”That (Lord’s) is exactly what I’m on about. That was a moment where we all did that, we all noticed and we all identified that moment. And you’ve seen the way that team came out on that day.”We were probably in a situation where we would have to be absolutely perfect to win that game, and we were. And on the back of attitude, mentality towards that specific situation is what gave us the best chance of winning that game. That was spoken about, that India game, for the rest of this series.”I’ve done all the talking over the last two days that I needed to have done. All that stuff’s done now, so it’s about what gets seen out on the field in Adelaide this week.”Everyone’s very switched on for what needs to be done this week. Yeah, a few more expectations, I think, around the group, but everyone responded incredibly well to it. Because what other option do we have?”With Josh Tongue coming in for Gus Atkinson as the sole change to the previous XI, the opportunity is there for players to make up for their mistakes so far – particularly in the batting group, of which Stokes is a part. Beyond that half-century in his second innings at Brisbane, he has been found wanting as one of five of the top seven to average under 30 from four knocks so far.Stokes made his Test debut at Adelaide in 2013, where he showcased the mongrel that lies within in a clash with wicketkeeper Brad Haddin, having over-stepped for what would have been his maiden Test wicket.Stokes has readily accessed that side to his personality throughout his career – at times, to a fault. But he admits his team of varying personalities have been too tentative in fully combating what Australia has thrown at them, on and off the field.After Mark Wood returned home on Saturday following a recurrence of an injury to his left knee, there are now just four players on the tour with previous experience of Ashes tours. While the squad was told what to expect when they arrived here, the reality has been far more confronting, both with the local media and the crowds.”Honestly I think so,” Stokes said, when asked if the players had been taken aback by the the scale of the noise during their month in the country so far. Now, he hopes they can use it to fuel a desperately needed comeback.”There’s been a lot of guys in the squad who have come out here to Australia for the first time, and I remember my first tour here; you try to imagine what it’s going to be like and you hear people talk. And when it does come around it’s like ‘wow’.”But now I feel everyone has experienced that, and probably at its highest level, so we all know what it’s going to be like. So for the next three games there isn’t going to be any of that ‘I didn’t expect this’ … ‘it’s the first time I’ve had this’.”Even the likes of Jamie Smith, the day he dropped that catch (in Brisbane), then the whole crowd was wailing at him every time he caught the ball. He now knows it.”Sometimes experiencing stuff like that for the first time, you’re not worrying about it. I think sometimes saying it with a little bit more emphasis and passion and attitude from myself can take lads to another level in terms of that side of things that they thought they could get to.”