‘A lion leading lambs’ – Stokes needs England team-mates to step up

Ben Stokes is open about the negative effects his Ashes tour has had on him.

The England captain said, “No doubt, it’s been tough. It’s been a difficult tour of Australia when you try to perform for your country in a large series and all of the other things that come with that.”

Stokes is familiar with Australia’s difficult times. Mitchell Johnson stifled England in 2013-14 and blocked it by Covid restrictions four years prior. Due to the incident in Bristol, he feared would cost him his career, he was unable to make it in 2017-18.

This was supposed to be different. Britain’s best chance for a generation to win the most-anticipated Ashes.

Instead, Stokes has carried the load of his team’s 3-1 deficit into the Sydney final.

When he was dismissed in both Brisbane and Adelaide, the skies erupted. On day three of the third Test, he missed the bowling match and spent time on the field after getting a head banged up. Following the release of the Ben Duckett Noosa video, Stokes held a heartfelt news conference on Christmas Eve in Melbourne.

At least when he takes his team out at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday (23:30 GMT, Saturday), Stokes will be aware that he has kept the wheels just.

However, Stokes will lead a nearly unrecognisable XI from the final Ashes series test in 2023. Five people will survive in England. Australia could have had as many as nine if Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood had been healthy.

Before this series, it was thought that the skipper’s ability to determine how much blood flowed through the field.

Cummins has won just one game. Stokes will win the first Test series in two years without losing.

Steve Smith is the country’s ready-made captaincy deputy, and they are likely to wear Travis Head and Alex Carey’s armband if necessary. The Australians have shown themselves to be full of battle-tested adults, despite their age and reputation as being over the hill.

England have lost, moved on from Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Chris Woakes, Ollie Robinson, and Jack Leach since the final Ashes. Individual selection decisions were necessary and valid, but they also left England without leaders.

There has been a perception that Stokes is a lion leading lambs too frequently on this tour.

Under the brightest lights, Mark Wood’s injury left the pace attack without a senior seamer, and Harry Brook, the vice-captain, needs to mature, and Duckett, Jamie Smith, and Gus Atkinson have wilted.

Zak Crawley was questioned about playing senior football on Friday after being asked about being England’s third-most capped player in Sydney with 63 Tests.

It was made by Stokes, which is a part of the problem. In the England dressing room, he and coach Brendon McCullum are two alphas, leaving little room for other characters’ growth. In the biggest series, they have supported players who have been let down.

Stokes’ style of tactical verve is lacking, even in his signature tactical role as skipper. The media has been reporting contradictory things. Following the “weak men” comment in the wake of defeat in the second Test, the “has-beens” pre-series was awkward. When he requested empathy in Melbourne, it stung.

Stokes’ desire to remain as captain is unwavering. He is arguably England’s most powerful player. There is only one Ben Stokes, and suits and administrators change.

When Stokes supports McCullum’s continued role as coach, he should be heard, with the caveat that Stokes no longer has McCullum’s full attention.

Stokes remarked, “We’ll put our heads together” regarding McCullum’s decision to coach and captain the Test team’s future, but McCullum’s decision could put that decision off until the T20 World Cup comes up next month.

Is it a coincidence that since McCullum took over the white-ball teams, England has lost half of their Test matches?

Whoever leaves McCullum, Rob Key, or neither will remain, will continue to be significant to the England team. He has been mentioned as a potential opening number three batter and bowler on this tour alone.

He said, “It’s entering the territory of my bat, my ball.”

In just the past two years, serious knee, hamstring, and shoulder injuries have left the body creaking. No other England bowler took more than his 33 Test wickets in 2025.

A 31-for-35 average in the previous year is below his 35-year career average, and it seems as though the violent shift in gears that caused wine to turn once was not as possible as it once was. In his four years as captain, his strike-rate of 45.88 was the lowest.

Stokes’ explanation, as if making a point to the rest of his team, read, “Situational Awareness.”

England arrived in Sydney with a 4-0 lead and a clean sweep at the conclusion of the 2002-2003 Ashes. Andrew Caddick and Michael Vaughan worked together to bring about the legendary series triumph from 2005.

Next year will be the Ashes in England. A generation of Australian cricketers who have never won an away Ashes will be completely cut out, and it almost certainly will be done for Trent Stokes, who turns 36 as the series kicks off.

England has 14 games until Australia arrives in the UK, including this fifth Test. As an England player and captain, Stokes could have a total of 19 Test matches left. The goal is to leave the Oval with the urn reclaimed.