New Zealand vs England: Ben Stokes admits putting ‘too much emphasis’ on Ashes
England captain Ben Stokes admits he placed “too much emphasis” on next year’s Ashes in Australia and will now “lower his expectations”.
At the start of the home summer, Stokes explained his side’s overhaul, including the retirement of James Anderson, It was done with the Ashes in mind.
England will play a final Test match in New Zealand before traveling to Australia next November, a one-off match at home against Zimbabwe in May and a five-Test series at home to India race.
“In interviews over the summer and things like that, a lot of people were pointing towards the Ashes, which was very far away,” Stokes said.
“You do always look at that but we have six more tests before that.
“It’s just making sure that I continue to focus on the here and now and what’s coming to us and when the Ashes is our next series, we’ll focus on that.”
England begin the 17th and final Test of 2024 in Hamilton on Saturday (Friday 22:00 GMT) with the chance of becoming the third team to win the three-match series 3-0 in New Zealand visiting team. Previously, in 2016, England had played 17 Test matches in one year.
England did not name a squad on Thursday, waiting to train on Friday after some players opted to travel north from Wellington, the venue for the second Test.
Stokes says he expects Harry Brooke to become world number one new number one test batsman – is back fit after an ankle injury but hinted at a fresh look for the pace bowling attack.
“Although we ended the game early in Wellington, it felt like all the overs for the seamers were more than what was on the scorecard because of the weather,” he said. “The lads came out strong so we’ll see how they stand up.”
