New Zealand vs England: Ben Stokes admits putting ‘too much emphasis’ on Ashes
England captain Ben Stokes has admitted he has put “too much emphasis” on next year’s Ashes in Australia and will now “reduce expectations”.
At the start of the domestic summer, Stokes revealed that the overhaul of his squad, including the retirement of James Anderson, had been made with the Ashes in mind.
Before going on tour next November, England have a final Test in New Zealand, a one-off home match against Zimbabwe in May and a five-Test series hosted by India.
“There was a lot of allusion in the summer in interviews and things like that to the Ashes being a long way off,” Stokes said.
“You always have an eye on him but we have six more Tests before that.
“It’s just making sure I keep my focus on the here and now and what we’re achieving, and when the Ashes are our next series, then we’ll focus on that.”
England begin their 17th and final Test of 2024 in Hamilton on Saturday (22:00 GMT Friday) with a chance to become just the third visiting team to win a three-match series 3-0 in New Zealand. Only once before, in 2016, had England played 17 Tests in a calendar year.
England did not name a squad on Thursday and will instead wait until Friday’s training session, after several players opted to drive north from the second Test venue Wellington.
Stokes said he was hopeful that new world number one Test batsman Harry Brook would be fit after suffering an ankle problem, but hinted at refreshing the fast bowling attack.
“Even though we finished early in Wellington, it felt like all the seamers’ overs were higher on the scorecard because of the weather,” he said. “The boys work hard, so we’ll see how they progress.”
