Ben Stokes DEFENDS decision to declare on day one despite Australia pulling off a stunning run chase

England captain Ben Stokes defended his decision to declare in the first innings of the first Ashes test after Australia launched a stunning chase to win by two wickets at Birmingham thanks to an unbeaten 55-run partnership for the ninth wicket from captain Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon.

“I am a captain and a person who saw that (first night) as an opportunity to attack Australia. No leadoff hitter likes to go out for 20 minutes. The way we played and attacked Australia basically enabled us to do that,” said Stokes.

“I could turn around and say if we hadn’t announced it would we be as excited as we were at the end of day five? I’m not so sure.

So I’m not going to look back on this game as what if because so many things happened over the five days that I could say if that had gone our way, this game could have been different?

“The reality is we just didn’t manage to cross the line this week,” the England captain added.

Stokes had called his side when they were 393-8 despite Joe Root being well set at 118

And Stokes admitted his disappointment after England failed to get the last two wickets in front of a packed house at Edgbaston.

“I sit here as a losing captain, but I couldn’t be more proud of the way we worked and the amount of energy and effort put into it.

“Obviously it’s very disappointing, but when you look at the way we’ve played over the last five days compared to how recent Ashes series’ have gone, it proves what we’re capable of against Australia.

“The way we’ve been playing literally from ball one proves we can match Australia in the way we want to play.

“It was the big question before we got into the series if we could continue our style of play against such a good Australian team and even though we are on the wrong side of the result here it proves we are literally toe-to-to gone. -toe throughout the game here.

“We have four Tests left and we will focus on that.”

And Stokes insisted his side will continue in the same way if they want to entertain.

‘Losing sucks. We always want to win, but not putting the result at the top of everything we think about really helps us play free-spirited cricket.

Australian skipper Pat Cummins (left) insisted he would not have stated as Stokes did

Cummins also claimed his side’s two-wicket win was the top of his career to date

“I know everyone who came out and bought a ticket and supported us and everyone who watched on TV would have loved to see us win.

“We are extremely angry with them for not being able to see England cross the line, but if people haven’t been on the edge of their seats all Test match then I’m not quite sure what will happen. cricket.’

Stokes’ counterpart Cummins admitted Australia’s win topped the list.

‘Number one. Absolutely,” said the captain of Australia.

Asked if he would have declared in the first innings if his batting best flew by a century, Cummins insisted he would not.

“Probably not, no,” Cummins said. “I wasn’t very surprised (England stated) but the wicket felt pretty good so I thought every run in those first innings was as good as it takes.”