Ben Stokes sends message to Australia as England captain breaks his silence for the first time since Ashes rival Pat Cummins led his side to incredible Cricket World Cup victory

Ben Stokes has reluctantly congratulated the Australian cricket team after their World Cup victory in India.

England Test captain Stokes put aside his rivalry with counterpart Pat Cummins to wish the Aussies well after their surprise six-wicket win over the tournament hosts in Ahmedabad.

“It took me a while to type this through gritted teeth,” he posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

“Congratulations to Pat Cummins and his Australian team on winning the World Cup. After eight weeks of hard-fought cricket, there’s nothing better than lifting that trophy at the end of it.”

The Cummins squad has long been compared to Australia’s best men’s teams, proving they belong in the conversation with the sides of Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting, the era of Dennis Lillee and Rod Marsh and Don Bradman’s Invincibles.

The England Test captain sent his congratulations on Twitter

The core group has now won two ODI World Cups, with Sunday’s win featuring seven players from the 2015 home success.

They also won the 2021 Twenty20 World Cup, defying the odds to win Australia’s first trophy in the format.

In Test cricket, the same group have twice retained the Ashes in England, marginally missing out on series victories in that country but still holding the urn for six years.

A Test series win in India remains the only blemish on their record after a few hours of madness in Delhi cost them earlier this year.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the team over the years,” Cummins said.

‘We’ve had some tough series, but we’ve also won some fantastic series.

“Everyone stood up, we feel like we have a great red ball team and the white ball team has won two trophies in the last few years.

“Things are looking pretty rosy.”

Australia defeated India in the final to win the trophy for the sixth time