England's cricket captain, Ben Stokes, has responded with amusement to the escalating war of words between Australian and English legends in the lead-up to the highly anticipated Ashes series, describing the crossfire as 'quite funny to see'.
Legendary Barbs Fly Ahead of First Test
The verbal hostilities commenced when legendary English fast bowler Stuart Broad, set to commentate the series for Channel Seven, launched the first salvo. On his podcast, Broad declared that the upcoming contest would pit 'probably the worst Australian team since 2010' against 'the best English team since 2010'.
Not to be outdone, Australian greats quickly returned fire. Pace bowling icon Glenn McGrath stuck to his traditional pre-Ashes prediction of a 5-0 Australian whitewash. Meanwhile, former Australian captain Kim Hughes dismissed a playful forecast of an English clean sweep by David Lloyd as laughable.
Stokes Keeps His Cool Amidst the Hype
When asked about the spicy exchanges, Stokes displayed a calm and experienced demeanour. He remarked that this kind of pre-series banter has become a standard part of the Ashes build-up, which he feels gets bigger and more intense with each iteration.
'The war of words between the two nations, that starts about two months out from the first Test. I don't think it's been any different,' Stokes said. 'I think the build-up's always hyped up and always gets quite spicy the closer you get to the first game. I think we'll just let the outside people have those wars of words. It's quite funny to see.'
Preparing a Green Squad for the Ashes Cauldron
The all-rounder, who was appointed England captain in 2022, is on his third Ashes tour in Australia. However, he leads a squad where only six players have previous Test match experience on Australian soil. Stokes emphasised the crucial role of the team's senior figures in preparing the less experienced members for the unique pressures of an Ashes series down under.
'Coming to Australia for the Ashes is a lot different than anything else when you're playing. There's a lot more that goes on away from the cricket itself,' Stokes explained. 'It's just making everyone aware that's the case but making sure it's nothing to be afraid of, nothing to be scared of, and don't shy away from it.'
England's preparation schedule, which features just one three-day game against the England Lions, has been criticised by legendary all-rounder Sir Ian Botham as 'bordering on arrogance'. Stokes, however, defended the plan, citing a 'pretty jam-packed' fixture list that leaves little room for a more extensive build-up.
'I don't really know what we're supposed to do, to be honest,' he said. 'To prepare how teams probably would've done 10, 15, 20, 30 years ago, I think there's a lot of factors that have changed over the years in cricket. Come the 21st of this month, we know that we would've done everything that is possible that we could've done to be in the right place to go out there and hopefully start the tour how we want.'
