Stokes defends aggressive day one declaration

England captain Ben Stokes has made a robust defence of his first-day declaration at Edgbaston that was arguably a decisive factor in his side's two-wicket loss to Australia in the Ashes opener.

Stokes had called his side in late on day one with England flying on 8-393 and Joe Root in overdrive after reaching a glorious hundred, however opposing captain Pat Cummins was among many to say they would not have done the same.

Stokes' move, typical of England's ultra-aggressive Bazball approach, failed to pay off.

The home side did not pick up any wickets in the final 20 minutes and relinquished the chance to flog a weary Australia attack for cheap runs.

But Stokes was unrepentant, insisting after Tuesday's dramatic, narrow loss that he didn't regret the decision and indicating he'd consider doing the same in the next Test at Lord's.

"I'm a captain who saw it as an opportunity to pounce on Australia," Stokes said.

"I don't think any batter likes to go out 20 minutes before the close of play. The way in which we played, and took Australia on, actually allowed us to be able to do that.

"I could also turn around and say, 'If we didn't declare, would we have got that excitement like we did at the end of day five?'.

"I'm not 100 per cent sure but I'm not going to be looking back at this game as 'what ifs'.

"The reality is, we just didn't manage to get over the line this week."

Asked if he would have declared in similar circumstances, Cummins said: "Probably not. I'm not overly surprised (that Stokes did) but the wicket felt pretty good so I thought every run was pretty much needed in that first innings."

England ended up with a seven-run first-innings lead when they might have had a substantial advantage, but Stokes, surprisingly chilled after the defeat, felt it was far from a "psychological blow" for his side.

"It's a bit early to say the Ashes are slipping away after one game," he smiled.

"There are still four games left. Keep following us and we will keep trying to do what we do.

"I'm sat here as a losing captain, but I couldn't be more proud of the way we have operated and the effort put in by everyone across the game.

"We've lost and it's disappointing but if you look at the way we've played over the last five days compared to how the last few Ashes series have gone it proves what we're capable of doing against Australia.

"Even though we're on the wrong end of the result here, it proves we went toe-to-toe throughout the whole game."

And if England pile on a huge first-day score at Lord's in the next Test, would he make a similar declaration?

"Yeah, I'd like to be 398 for six with 20 minutes left, that'd be great," he grinned.

2023 Qantas Ashes Tour of the UK

First Test: Australia won by two wickets

Second Test: Wednesday June 28-Sunday July 2, Lord’s

Third Test: Thursday July 6-Monday July 10, Headingley

Fourth Test: Wednesday July 19-Sunday July 23, Old Trafford

Fifth Test: Thursday July 27-Monday 31, The Oval

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, David Warner

England squad: Ben Stokes (c), James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood