BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Being in Australia, 1-0 down already in the Ashes series, meant learning of the sudden death of England great Robin Smith “hits harder” for Ben Stokes and his squad.
England's test and second-string squads were in Perth last week, where Australia won the first test by 8 wickets in two days and an Australian XI also won a game against the Lions.
Smith, who played 62 test matches for England, died in Perth, Western Australia, on Monday. He was 62. The news emerged days after Smith met and spoke with the Lions squad.
“Just last week he was there chatting with the Lions who were out here,” Stokes said Wednesday on the eve of the second test in Brisbane. "He was at the game last week and talking to people and sharing, going into quite a lot of detail about his life and opening up quite a lot.
“It hits you a bit harder, I think, when you realize that it was only a week ago."
Stokes said while he didn't know Smith very well, the England touring party was filled with people who knew the ex-test batter.
“The same thing kept on coming up pretty much, which was just that he was an absolute belter of a bloke," he said.
Stokes ended the news conference by saying England's ambition in Brisbane was the same as it was when the team arrived in Australia: to reclaim the Ashes.
A knee injury to paceman Mark Wood meant England had to make a change in the bowling attack, and selectors settled on all-rounder Will Jacks ahead of specialist spinner Shoaib Bashir.
England's all-pace attack dominated Australia in the first innings, but didn't have any answers to the counter-attack from Travis Head in the second innings.
Stokes said Jacks, who played two tests in Pakistan in 2022, will add some variety to the attack, and some extra strength to the batting lineup.
“Coming here, knowing the first two games were going to be in Perth and the day-night game here at the Gabba, you try and leave yourself as much time as you can to think about different angles,” Stokes said. “We tried to look at how we thought spin was going to be used. There was a bit of a tactical element to it. And obviously (Jacks) ability with the bat, to have that down the order for us is useful as well.”
Stokes, who took a five-wicket haul in the first innings in Perth, will join Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse in the pace lineup. Jacks will offer off-spin.
There was growing speculation Wednesday that Australia would recall Pat Cummins early from a back injury. Stokes said England would take a "wait and see” approach.
“Whatever XI they go with, if Pat’s there, if Pat’s not, we’ll still be going in there to try and get the win," Stokes said. He's more concerned about England's lineup bouncing back than who will feature for Australia.
“We'll take some lessons from last week,” he said. “But it’s a chance for us this week to do what we want to do, which is to come here and win the Ashes.”
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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