Ben Stokes has delivered a direct message to his players before this week’s third Ashes Test in Adelaide: find the fight, in whatever shape it comes, and do it now.
England trail Australia 2-0 after two sobering eight-wicket defeats. The captain, usually inclined to stress individual freedom, shifted gear in the City of Churches and asked for something rawer – an edge that confronts Australia rather than waiting for the game to drift.
“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.”
The picture, he admits, will vary across the dressing-room. “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.”
Actions rather than words have framed his argument. On the final morning in Brisbane, Stokes and Will Jacks extended their seventh-wicket partnership to 96 from 221 balls. The match was almost certainly lost, yet the stand offered a glimpse of the resistance the captain wants to bottle.
“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,” he said. “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.”
He delivered a similar request in Australia’s modest pursuit of 65. The game gone, he told Jofra Archer to unleash pace for one last burst, partly to remind the hosts – and his own team – that England still had teeth.
“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 explained. “I thought that that was a really, really important moment for us.”
Archer reached speeds close to his fastest in an England shirt. Criticism followed – some pundits questioned the logic of exerting such effort with defeat inevitable – yet Stokes remains firm. The spell scratched a line in the sand and, in his view, set the tone for what comes next.
Former England quick Steven Finn understands the appeal. “Fast bowling can be psychological as much as physical,” he said on BBC 5 Live. “Even if the score is gone, letting the opposition know you can hit 150kph is no bad thing.”
Coach Brendon McCullum echoed the sentiment in more measured tones. He noted the value of “collective intent”, a phrase that has underpinned England’s red-ball revival since 2022. “We’ve always said we want players to be themselves,” McCullum remarked in Adelaide. “But Ben’s point is about intent, not imitation. Each individual needs to tap into whatever brings out the best competitive version of themselves.”
Statistically, England must do more than snarl. With the bat they average 218 in the series; Australia’s top order has cashed in at 53 runs per wicket. The pace attack, short of Mark Wood through injury and missing Ollie Robinson’s accuracy, has laboured for breakthroughs on fresh, quick surfaces. Adelaide’s drop-in pitch is unlikely to gift seam movement, so reverse swing and disciplined lengths will be at a premium.
Former Australia captain Ian Chappell expects the hosts to target Stokes the bowler. “They’ll try to tire him out, make him throw in that short stuff early and then work him around,” he told SEN radio. “If England don’t share the load, Ben could end up compromised as a batsman.”
Stokes, meanwhile, has not indicated any change of personal approach. The knee still requires management, but he has accepted the all-rounder’s workload. “If it means bowling 20 overs in a day to give us the best chance, that’s what I’ll do,” he said last week.
Selection remains open. James Anderson is pushing for a recall, while Gus Atkinson’s extra pace has been noted in training. The batting line-up looks stable, though Harry Brook’s lean run (42 runs in four innings) leaves a minor question.
Whatever the line-up, Stokes’ call for “the dog” is unlikely to fade before Friday morning. England have not come from 2-0 down to square an Ashes series since 1936-37, so the odds are long. Yet the captain insists mind-set, not mathematics, is his immediate concern.
“People talk about the series score, the stats, the history,” he said. “That’s fine. But you can’t chase 3-0 from the start of a Test. You chase the next hour, then the hour after that. Show some dog in each of those and we’ll see where we are.”
Empathy sits alongside expectation. Stokes recognises some team-mates are finding the tour heavy going. “No one likes losing,” he said. “But if we keep hiding from the opposition or from what’s in front of us, it’ll only get worse. Better to stand up and have a scrap.”
The message is blunt, the timeframe immediate. England’s Ashes hopes rest on whether they can translate the captain’s words into actions – and, crucially, whether each player can locate his own version of that elusive inner dog.
