"No regrets" - Ben Stokes defends early declaration despite defeat in 1st Ashes 2023 Test
England captain Ben Stokes has "no regrets" about his highly-debated Day 1 declaration despite losing the first Test of Ashes 2023.
He said on Tuesday (June 20) that he saw it as an opportunity to put Australian batters under pressure in the last 20 minutes. He added that England would continue to make such moves in the future too.
Despite having two wickets in hand, including a well-set Joe Root at the crease batting at 118, England declared at 393-8 on the first day. Australia eventually needed 281 to win in the last innings. They shot it down in thrilling fashion via skipper Pat Cummins (44 off 73) and Nathan Lyon's (16 off 28) nine-wicket partnership.
"No, no regrets, I saw that as an opportunity to pounce on," Stokes said after the match. "No batsman likes to walk out to bat with 20 minutes of play left in the day. Who knows? Maybe Root and Jimmy (Anderson) could have got out and we would have been in the same place."
David Warner and Usman Khawaja survived those 20 minutes comfortably as there was not much movement on offer. The latter went on score a magnificent 141 (321) which set up the game for the visitors.
However, had the gamble paid off and England picked two wickets, Australia would've been under immense pressure on Day 2.
"We're going to keep making moves if we feel the time is right" - Ben Stokes
Stokes hoped that England's aggressive style attracted more audience for the series. He assured that his team will stick with the same methods in the coming Tests too, saying:
"I'm very proud of my team. To take it to the end like that on day 5.... it was so up and down. That's one of the games that I'll never forget being a part of. Hopefully, we have managed to attract the attention of more people in England and Australia and ensured that they follow the Ashes! A loss is a loss."
He added:
"We've said how we were going to operate. Losing hurts and winning is a great feeling. We're going to keep making moves if we feel the time is right and if we end up on the wrong side of results like this, there won't be much to complain about."
The second Test will be played at Lord's, starting on June 28.