The sheer number of Australian voices triumphantly telling England to show some humility this past week has been slightly ironic. The first Test finished as an eight-wicket thumping, done inside 48 hours and worthy of criticism, but it was not without a genuine wobble from the hosts en route.
Either way, Ben Stokes looked to do so when his players resumed training at Allan Border Field on Saturday morning before next week’s day-night second Test at the Gabba. Gone was the “shell-shocked” captain seen during the immediate aftermath of going 1-0 down and in his place, having reflected during the past few days, a far more conciliatory figure.
Performances can only truly change perceptions of this England side, but there was an acceptance from Stokes that some of the blowback has been valid. He also rowed back on calling former players such as Ian Botham, Michael Vaughan and Graham Gooch “has-beens” before the series, the trio among those to question whether their preparation were thorough enough.
“I got the words I said there completely wrong,” said a sheepish Stokes. “Has-beens is a horrible word. It’s the only thing that managed to come out of my mouth at that moment. God, I’m going to be one of those one day. But it’s not at all what I meant by that.”
Talk of lessons being learned is a common refrain from defeated sides but Stokes – preferring one-on-one debriefs rather than all in one room – was happy to expand on a few. Among them was his own leadership in the field, admitting that his bowling plans during Travis Head’s whirlwind assault on the target of 205 runs slightly cracked under pressure.
“I could have been a lot better as captain,” he said. “I am the person who makes decisions about how we go out there and operate and I am the one who gives the plans to the bowlers. I wasn’t as clear as I normally am. The key thing for me is to be completely crystal clear with my bowlers.”
A concern here is that Stokes and the head coach, Brendon McCullum, remain convinced that the target set was plenty, when the brief history of Tests at Perth Stadium shows that batting conditions improve after tea on day two. England’s collapse after lunch – the loss of four for 11 when effectively 105 for one – was where the contest was lost.
This is a slightly brittle England batting lineup. Devastating on their day, no question, but one that has been bowled out inside 40 overs an alarming seven times since the start of last year. Three of these occurred in India and Pakistan – an achilles heel against spin not exactly exclusive to the current generation – but Stokes conceded the statistic told a story overall.
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“We keep it very simple, which is always looking to put the opposition under pressure, but also understanding the moment we need to absorb it. We know we are very, very good at the first bit and there are areas that we can be better doing the second bit.
“We do understand that. We don’t shrug it off and think: ‘Next time hopefully it will happen.’ When we say: ‘We’re going to stick to what we’re doing,’ it doesn’t mean we don’t think about all of this kind of stuff.”
There was also a nod to the England supporters – the thousands who have flown to Australia and those watching through the night at home – with Stokes acknowledging the frustration they have felt. “We know we’ve got an incredible fanbase who come out here and support us,” he said. “They want to see us win. We want to win. We’re absolutely desperate. They’re absolutely desperate. We’re all on the same wavelength.”
Not every charge was met with a guilty plea, however. Plenty has been said about England’s attitude, with Mitchell Johnson among those to call England arrogant in the past week. The pair met on the field during the 2013-14 Ashes, a fiery encounter when Stokes first showed his appetite for the fight. Twelve years on, the all-rounder was again pushing back.
“I think arrogant might be a little bit too far, but that’s OK,” said Stokes. “We take the rough with the smooth. Call us whatever you want. I’d rather words like ‘rubbish’, but ‘arrogant’ … I’m not so sure about that. We didn’t have the Test match that we wanted to, but we were great in passages of that game.”
Those passages chiefly refer to a fearsome first-innings outing with the ball that saw Australia shot down for 132 all out; encouragement looking ahead, even if Mark Wood will miss the second instalment. Australia’s players are far too savvy to be writing off the tourists just yet.
That said, the hosts have a distinct advantage given their far greater experience of day-night Test cricket and a record that reads 14 played, 13 won. To that end, Stokes understood why England’s decision to shoulder arms to the tour match in Canberra this weekend, save for sending three unused players, looks strange from the outside.
But the sticky humidity of Brisbane and a Gabba surface likely to bounce far more than Manuka Oval support the thinking. As was the case in Perth – a fast-forward match that swung more wildly than has been acknowledged in some quarters – that call will be framed by the result.
