Ben Stokes snaps at declaration question as England's Ashes dream ended by rain

23 July 2023 , 17:40

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Ben Stokes has no regrets over England's decision to declare (Image: PA Sport)

A defiant Ben Stokes has claimed that anyone who questioned England's decision not to declare in the fourth Ashes Test "probably doesn't understand the game" as well as he and his side do.

The England skipper and his team-mates were left gutted on Sunday as rain forced the fourth test in Manchester to be abandoned and finish in a draw, resulting in Australia retaining the Ashes with a 2-1 lead heading in next week's finale at the Oval. Stokes had opted not to call England's batsmen in early on Friday afternoon before final pairing James Anderson and Jonny Bairstow ended up at the crease boasting a healthy lead, all while the Aussies were awaiting their second innings and had fading hopes.

Having been slammed by the likes of former England captains Michael Vaughan and Kevin Pietersen earlier in the series for declaring on the opening day, Stokes remained steadfast in his latest decision. Speaking to BBC's Test Match Special after Australia's retention of the urn was confirmed, the skipper explained: "Regardless of what we did we would have ended up in the same situation.

"To be honest, anybody that was going to question the declaration in this game, probably doesn't understand the game as well as we do. We've had three hours of cricket in two days, whatever we did we wouldn’t have been able to force a result because of the weather. It is what it is."

After reiterating that he has no regrets over making the decision not to declare, Stokes added on the sodden fourth Test's abandonment: "It is a tough one to take. Playing the cricket we managed to play over the first three days and get on the wrong side of the weather it is tough to take but it is all part of the journey.

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"Coming into the game, knowing what we needed to do, played in our hands a little bit. It was another do or die game for us. We couldn't have done too much more. It will be tough to look back on but there is one more game to go and we'll be trying to tie the series and a lot of pride to play for.

"The injury to Ollie Pope made us think about the structure of our team and bringing in Chris Woakes helps so much. I'm very pleased with everyone's efforts that has played in this series."

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Rain in Manchester meant that the fourth Ashes Test had to end in a draw (OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)

Player of the match Zak Crawley, who hit a superb knock of 189 in the first innings at Old Trafford to help make England heavy favourites for a win - had the rain stayed away - echoed Stokes' assessment by saying: "It is pretty flat [in the dressing room]. We were in a good position to win but the weather has cost us.

"We're disappointed but we know we're playing good cricket and we're building as a side. We've played a lot of good cricket in the fist three days an gave ourselves a chance of winning on day three and yesterday so it is disappointing.

"It was my best innings for England. It has to be my favourite one. I rode my luck at times but I played really nicely and I was happy. I've felt in good touch all series and just haven't had the score yet. I felt it was coming and thankfully it came in this game.

"I'll take a lot of confidence from this series, their bowlers are all high quality and there's no let up. Every game is massively important for us. We're going well as a side and it would be nice to get it back to 2-2."

Nathan Ridley