Stokes says winless England are in 'perfect situation'

England have got Australia exactly where they want them.

That was the message from Ben Stokes, despite his team going 0-2 down in the series, with the Ashes hosts' inspirational captain declaring the narrative-busting team created in his and Brendon McCullum's image has met their ideal scenario.

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"It's actually very exciting to know that the way in which we are playing our cricket couldn't be more perfect for the situation we find ourselves in," Stokes told reporters after England backed up their two-wicket defeat at Edgbaston with a 43-run loss at Lord's on Sunday.

"We have to win these three games to get this urn back.

"We're a team who are obviously willing to put ourselves out there and do things against the narrative.

"Now, these three games are an even better opportunity for us than we've ever found ourselves in before."

Australian fans will no doubt scoff at the words, but it is in keeping with Stokes' leadership style that is now facing its greatest challenge.

No team has won the Ashes from 2-0 down since Sir Donald Bradman flipped the 1936-37 series' script on its head with consecutive scores of 270, 212 and 169 in the final three Tests.

Even those type of returns might be beyond Stokes, though the allrounder could hardly have done more at Lord's to stir his teammates.

After sending down 12 straight overs of bouncers on day four as part of a successful bowling strategy that kept Australia's lead to 370, Stokes then nearly singlehandedly pulled off the run chase with one of his finest Test innings.

Usman Khawaja later admitted he was having "PTSD" flashbacks to the Headingley miracle four years ago as Stokes, fired up by the contentious Jonny Baistow dismissal, launched six after six to the eastern side of the ground as he batted with tail-ender Stuart Broad.

Stokes explained he had drawn on the 2019 innings that still gives Australians nightmares, as well as his equally nerveless knock in the 2019 World Cup final against New Zealand a month prior.

"Being in those two games, I was able to take experiences from those two innings, particularly from Headingley," said the 32-year-old, who was dismissed for 155 when he finally skied an attempted slog to the leg-side off Josh Hazlewood.

"Just sort of going about it in a similar way, look to take my boundary options and also try and get some twos and get off strike towards the back end of the over.

"The one thing I did find hard today was finding the gaps for the twos, the fields that Pat (Cummins) was setting were quite hard to push the twos, I think I only got two away.

"Obviously, I had to take some huge risks at times because everyone was on the boundary so I just had to imagine there wasn't anyone there and try to go over the top of them."

Unlike his 135no that led England to their astonishing victory at Leeds in 2019 however, the Australians managed to contain the damage mainly to the nine sixes and the smattering of boundaries he hit.

Stokes' counterpart Cummins admitted that was a key lesson from the epic contest, as was tactically slowing the game down in a bid to deny his opposite number the momentum.

Cummins at one stage re-tied the laces on his shoes to ensure he bowled the final over before lunch, while there was a long discussion with senior heads Steve Smith, David Warner, Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne after Stokes had reduced the runs required to double figures.

Image Id: D0CBA22636484E5A9E8E4A034A75BDFC Image Caption: Stokes and Cummins wait for the post-match presentation at Lord's // Getty

"The biggest help was that we had a few extra runs on the board, that certainly helped," Cummins said when reflecting on the difference between the two Stokes hundreds. "He was in pretty formidable form out there.

"We learnt a few lessons from Headingley – slowing the game up a bit, trying to get him to hit in areas we wanted to rather than 360 (degrees around the ground).

"With a wicket like that, the ball was old and soft, you don't have too many options really.

"The wind was howling towards the (eastern) stand, so it felt like we needed to go away from that stand, get him hitting towards the off-side away from it.

"He's too good a player and it's too short a boundary. That was really the crux of (his meeting with other senior players) … it was a fantastic innings."

But in his Ashes return to Headingley, Stokes, who started his full-time captaincy career with 11 wins from 13 Tests, is now staring down the barrel of becoming the first England skipper to lose a home Ashes series in 22 years.

Stokes says it is a simple equation, pointing to three-nil series wins against New Zealand (at home last year) and in Pakistan (in December): "We've won three games in a row twice, all we're thinking about is winning the series 3-2."

2023 Qantas Ashes Tour of the UK

First Test: Australia won by two wickets

Second Test: Australia won by 43 runs

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), Rehan Ahmed, 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