England captain Ben Stokes urged his team to ‘show a bit of dog’, two days before the crucial third Ashes Test in Adelaide. The all-rounder said that the players had to battle it out in every situation they find themselves in, adding that they needed to react to the scenario in front of them in the best possible way.
“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,” Stokes said on Monday.
“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.”
England have made one change to the side that lost the second Test in Brisbane, bringing in Josh Tongue for Gus Atkinson. It meant that Shoaib Bashir remained out of the XI and Stokes admitted that keeping Will Jacks as the lone spinner was to ensure more batting depth.
“I wouldn’t say it’s got anything to do against Bash whatsoever. The main thing is we’re 2-0 down. We need to win the next three,” the 34-year-old said.
“We feel having Jacksy down at number eight obviously strengthens our batting a little bit deeper if we need to go there. And he’s more than capable enough to handle that role with the ball when we need to call upon it.”
Stokes said that the team was using the third Test against India at Lord’s in July as motivation, ahead of the Adelaide Test. England won that game by 22 runs in a thrilling finish on the last day, with Bashir dismissing Mohammed Siraj to give the hosts the win and a 2-1 lead in the five-Test series.
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‘That’s exactly what I’m on about. That was a moment where we all did that, we all noticed, and we all identified that moment.
“You saw the way the team came out on that day. We were probably in a situation where we would have to be absolutely perfect to win that game, and we were. On the back of attitude, mentality towards that specific situation is what gave us the best chance of winning that game,” he reflected.