England captain Ben Stokes says the tourists are โquite emotionalโ after their bold dreams of coming to Australia to snatch the Ashes were dashed before Christmas.
The tourists have a 0-3 series deficit after 11 days of Test play in Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide and have only a five-day break before the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.
โObviously, that dream that we came here with is now over – which is obviously incredibly disappointing,โ Stokes told Seven in the aftermath of Australiaโs 82-run win at the Adelaide Oval.
โEveryone is obviously hurting and quite emotional about it.
โ[But] weโve got two more games to go and thatโs where the focus needs to switch to now. We obviously came here with a goal in mind, and weโve not been able to achieve that.
โIt hurts, and it sucks, but we ainโt going to stop.โ
Tough times: England captain Ben Stokes shakes hands with Pat Cummins.Credit: Getty Images
Pressed on the main difference between Australia and England, the veteran campaigner said the host nationโs superiority came down to consistency.
โI think just the constant execution,โ said Stokes.
โAustralia have been able to executive things on a much more consistent basis than us, both with the ball, with the bat and in the field.
โThis game of cricket it is based on how you bat and how you bowl, and how you field. And theyโve been able to out-do us on a much higher level.
โWe showed it in passages in these first three games and again, this week we did incredibly well to take it where we did to in this fourth innings [today].โ
