Ben Stokes says England are not going to change their new attacking approach despite three days of defeat to South Africa at Lords, dismissing suggestions the loss was a “wake-up call” on their part.
After being eliminated by 165 and 146, England lost the first Test by one innings and 12 runs.
It was the first setback in the Stokes-Brendon McCallum era, with England beating New Zealand in the Test series at the start of the summer and winning the single Test against India in grand style.
“I’m disappointed with the loss. It’s silly to say otherwise,” Stokes said after South Africa won 1-0 in all three test series.
“But we have two more games to recover from there. We know if we do what we can, we can have a great game like we’ve shown in the last four games.”
“It’s not a wake-up call or anything like that. ‘We didn’t do as well as we wanted and South Africa were better than us.'”
Asked if the loss had affected confidence in England’s style of play, Stokes added:
“You see the captains in front, the captains in the back. They always criticize them at certain times because they want to play. It’s part of life.”
The message at the top is “Are you fully committed to what you said before this match?” If everyone can honestly say they did, then that’s fine.
Playing cricket well gives you the best chance of winning the game. I didn’t think about the results of the first four games, so I try not to obsess over them.
After bowling England in the early innings, South Africa took a commanding position on the second day, going 289-7 to take a 124-run lead.
The Proteas extended their lead to 150 at the start of day three, once again shattering England’s batting line-up.
Struggling starters Zach Crowley and No. 3 Olly Pope (who hit a 73 in the first inning) collapsed before lunch, and Root was ejected after halftime for his second single-digit score.
Quick Henrich North then ruled out Jonny Bairstow, Alex Leeds and Ben Foykes, ending any hope of an England counter-attack.
England manager McCallum said:
First of all, I have to admit that South Africa played much better than us in this situation.
But we will not go from a very good cricket team a few weeks ago to a massive change. We do not overreact.
Stokes and I are convinced of how we want this team to play and in which direction it needs to go. It just needs improvement in a few areas.
“The situation hasn’t allowed us to play as freely, but that’s cricket and we have to adapt and try to absorb the pressure.
“When you have the chance to put pressure on your opponent, you have to be brave, but unfortunately we couldn’t handle the pressure the way we wanted.
“That’s sport. Last time I was on the right side, this time I was on the wrong side.”
South Africa look to maintain their dominance over England in the second Test at Old Trafford next Thursday.
Proteas captain Dean Elgar said: [believe it has finished so quickly] But I think tomorrow I’ll wake up with a hangover.
It was a team effort, and although there were some highlights, everyone did their part, including those who did not play.
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Source: Metro
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