After losing the first two Tests of the five-match Ashes series, England were in a lot of trouble as their Bazball tactics didn’t work quite well as the Australian bowlers were all over the home team. However, in the third Test at Headingley, England finally made a successful comeback, beating the Pat Cummins-led side by three wickets, and with that, the team managed to keep their hopes alive to win back the urn.
Speaking about the win, England skipper Ben Stokes termed it huge as it can give them the confidence to pull off an absolutely stunning comeback in the remaining matches. He eventually added, saying that all the matches have been really tight so far in the series and that, he has figured out what needs to be done in order to get over the line.
“It's obviously really big in the context of the series. We knew we needed to win this one to keep alive our hopes of winning the Ashes, so it's a good win. If you look at the first two games in terms of how tight they were, getting over the line in another tight game can mentally help, knowing that it's another close game but we've got over the line in this one.
“The first two didn't go our way. If you sort of flip it round and we didn't win this one and it's tight again, you would think, 'It's just not meant to be'. We're obviously over the moon that we won this one but it's just the start of what we know we need to do,” Stokes was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
Stokes lauds Wood, Woakes, and Moeen Ali after Headingley win
After losing at Lord’s, England made three changes to their squad as Moeen Ali, Mark Wood, and Chris Woakes made their return to the playing XI. Notably, all three of them were brilliant in the match, picking up a total of 15 wickets. Speaking about the same, Stokes lauded them and explained their significance in the team.
“Woakesy (Chris Woakes), being out of the team for such a long period of time, and to come back in and perform the way that he did both with ball and with bat… seeing Woody (Mark Wood) running in like he does, big smile on his face and enjoying every moment out there was great. [And] I said before the series started that we decided to go with Mo (Moeen Ali) back into the squad because of the impact he can have on games. I've played a lot of games with him and I know the impact he can have on his best days,” the 32-year-old said.
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