England and Ben Stokes pin Ashes hopes on ‘magical’ Headingley

Ben Stokes believes an Ashes victory at Headingely would be “magical” and “keep the series alive” as England face an uphill battle to prevent Australia winning the urn overseas for the first time in 22 years.

Four years ago at Headingley, Stokes produced a miracle to level the series, dragging England over the line with a brilliant 135 as they chased down a then-record 359 runs to win.

On that occasion, Australia still retained the Ashes with the series drawn, but this series relations between the sides turned sour following the controversial dismissal of Jonny Bairstow at Lord’s.

The fallout has reverberated around cricket, and even the Australian and British Prime Ministers have added their opinions to proceedings. While the teams may want to put events at Lord’s behind them, the fans are unlikely to forget as easily and the atmosphere at Headingley is likely to be electric.

“I think the magical thing that would happen this week is for us to win the game and keep the Ashes alive, to be honest,” Stokes said the day before the game.

“I don’t know what it is about Headingley but you can always look back at certain things which have happened here in an Ashes series, I don’t know why it seems to do that but the moment just happens and something happens.

“We’ve got some very fond memories here as an England team, I’m sure supporters have got some fond memories as spectators as well. ‘81 and 2019 will probably come up at some point around the ground.”

England have made three changes to their side from the narrow 43-run defeat at Lord’s, with Ollie Pope out of the series following a dislocated shoulder, the balance has shifted.

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Chris Woakes, Mark Wood and Moeen Ali were all named in the XI, as England name five bowlers, with all-rounder Woakes expected to play a role with the bat.

Harry Brook was promoted up the order to number three, a position he has not batted in since 2018 in the County Championship, and he averages just 22.2 there, with Jonny Bairstow moved up to number five and Stokes at six.

The bolstering of the bowling attack suggested that Stokes may not be able to fully contribute with the ball, although he insisted he would play a part if required.

“I’m not gonna lie: that last week sort of took it out of me a little bit,” the England captain said after he bowled 12 overs in succession in the second innings.

“So a big part of what I had to think of is what would be the best team if I wasn’t to bowl a ball in this game in the worst case scenario?

“That doesn’t mean I’m not going to bowl but that was a that was a huge part of the thinking about the team that we picked.”

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Fans will be hoping for a touch of that magic that brought England victory back in 2019, and there is no denying that when it comes to the big occasions, Stokes is who you want out in the middle.

“I think having been there in some pretty important moments in the past over the years helps when I seem to find myself in those moments, I have experience to be able to fall back on,” Stokes said.

“One thing I find I am very good at when I’m batting is being able to stay in my own little bubble and not put any of my energies or concentrate too much on things that I can’t influence or change.

“I was out in the middle with the Jonny incident and I knew the task I needed to do and I just made sure that I stayed in my own little bubble and didn’t let things outside of that affect me. I knew that I just had to concentrate on what we needed to do and at that time, it was knocking the runs off and nothing else.”