Stokes also defended his side’s tactics, stating that they were ready to adapt as per the situation, and were not merely looking to play all-out attacking cricket.
“The important thing we need to do as a team and as individuals is learn from it [the defeat]. We have identified those moments, spoken about them as a group, that’s what we need to do. In terms of execution, could we have been better at executing what we want to do, definitely.
“But again, we have a mindset of playing the game, which is looking to put the opposition under pressure, but also absorbing pressure. Sometimes when you go out there and make a decision, it doesn’t always pay off or work the way you want it to.
“That’s the key for the rest of this tour, staying true to the beliefs of how we play our cricket. But also, we do know we could have been a lot better in certain ways.”
There has been plenty of chat around the fact that England haven’t sent their first-choice players to feature in the day-night fixture at Canberra ahead of the day-night Test.
Stokes clarified the reasoning behind the call.
“We have a pink-ball match coming up in Brisbane, and we have an opportunity to play some pink-ball cricket. When you look at it just like that, I don’t want to say it makes sense, but I totally understand it.
“But there’s obviously a lot more to it than just that. That’s where it is, in Canberra, which is a different state from Brisbane. The conditions are obviously going to be completely different to what we are going to have coming up.
“So you take all the factors into consideration, the pros and cons, whatever it may be. You always discuss that and decide what we think is the best preparation. We have a few more days off than we planned after that Test. We had to go away and ask how we use these next few days wisely in order to be prepared for what it will be like in Brisbane.”
The second Ashes Test will be played from 4 December. The series carries important ICC World Test Championship standing points.
