Brydon Carse recalled how Ben Stokes gave a motivational talk that bolstered the morale of the England camp and helped them fight back to finish the opening day in a better position than Australia, despite being bowled out for 172 in their first innings in the ongoing Ashes opener at Perth Stadium.
After opting to bat first, England’s batters disappointed on a pitch that offered assistance to the pacers.
The visitors fought back to leave the hosts reeling at 123 for nine, still trailing by 49 runs. Stokes, who was dismissed for just six, led the team’s response with the ball as he claimed a five-wicket haul.
Carse, who took a couple of important breakthroughs, revealed that Stokes’s positive attitude fuelled the tourists’ comeback.
“He was always positive, always full of enthusiasm, and his messaging was really very simple, and that’s the way he has always dealt with the side,” Carse said after the end of play on day one. “Stokesy said, ‘Let’s hit the wicket hard and get as much as we can out of it. We’ve got 50 minutes before tea,’ and I thought the way Gus (Atkinson) and Jofra (Archer) started was phenomenal, and we carried that into the afternoon session. I thought we were quite relentless as a group of seamers, and Ben rotated us well.”
England have a chance of taking an early lead, which could be decisive given how the pitch has behaved so far in Perth.
While the bowlers have done their job, it is up to the batters to build on it and perform better in the second innings in order to put Australia under pressure in their fourth-innings run chase.
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