‘Everything you do gets scrutinised’: Stokes’ response as ugly Ashes fallout rolls on

Ben Stokes has come out in a passionate defence of his players as England’s disastrous Ashes tour took another turn on Wednesday, with claims of excessive drinking in a trip to Noosa.

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Stokes and his team already had enough to worry about with how the series has unfolded on the field, with any hope of the urn returning to England gone and the focus now turning to avoiding a humiliating Ashes whitewash.

On Wednesday, however, Stokes was asked on numerous occasions about the England and Cricket Board’s investigation into allegations surrounding the drinking habits of the team.

The ECB is also looking into an unverified video that appears to show a drunk Ben Duckett unable to find his way back to the team hotel, with a reference in the video of England being down 2-0 in the series, suggesting it may have been filmed before the Adelaide Test.

Stokes did not reference that alleged Duckett video specifically, but wanted to reiterate when asked more broadly about the spotlight on his teammates that his “main concern” was their welfare.

“How I handle this moment right now is the most important thing to me,” he told reporters at a press conference before the Boxing Day Test.

“The welfare of everyone in there and probably some certain individuals as well is the most important thing to me right now as England captain.

“This kind of stuff is very, I don’t know if close to me is the right wording, but something that I have first hand experience of how it can affect people. And as I said, my role as England captain is to protect my players as much as I possibly can.

“We have a goal still to try and achieve out here on this trip. It’s not gone anywhere near to plan whatsoever.

“We’ve still got two games of cricket to play. We’ve still got a lot of efforts and energies to put in in the remaining of this tour.

“Looking after my players is one of the main things that I need to get out of this because we need to go out there and win two games of cricket.

“I know how this kind of stuff can affect people and as I said, I will always protect my players as much as I possibly can.

“Right here right now, that is my main job as England captain is to ensure that they know that they have my backing because the most important thing to me, sitting here right now, is a group of players who I can get into a best possible state to go out there and try and perform for this country and the remaining of this trip.”

Stokes was later asked more directly if his players did anything wrong in Noosa, but was quick to shut that line of questioning down.

“I’ve just answered everything there,” he said.

When the question was framed by another journalist in a different way, with Stokes asked if the team had been prepared to win the series based on their actions in Noosa, the skipper again stressed he wanted to “protect” his players.

“I’ve just said I will always continue to support my players,” he said.

“I have a responsibility as captain out on the field to try and win games of cricket but in moments like these I have that other responsibility of making sure that I will always protect my players in a moment where I feel that is necessary and right here, right now, this is one of those moments to try my hardest to protect them and also try to get them out on the field in the best possible mental space as possible.”

To that effect, Stokes said it is a “very tough place” to be in when not only the media but social media is also “just piling on top of you”.

“So, I will always try my best to do that, to look after every single person in this group from players to management, support staff — whatever it may be,” he added.

While wanting to be protective of his players, Stokes acknowledged that the only way his team can escape the level of scrutiny it is currently under is by performing on the field.

“When you’re three-nil down and you’ve lost the series, everything you say, everything you do gets scrutinised and rightly so,” he said of criticism of England’s play.

“You don’t really have a leg to stand on when you’ve lost three games in a huge series like this. When you’re winning everything’s great, when you’re losing it’s not.”

The series may already be over, but Stokes maintained England have a “hell of a lot to play for”.

“I’m very determined to leave Australia with something positive to look back on and we’ve got an opportunity here with these two games coming up still to play that we can still sort of do that,” he said.

With that in mind, while Stokes admitted everyone is “hurting” and “devastated”, he added that they can’t take the final two Tests for granted.

“Everyone’s hurting, everyone’s devastated, disappointed with how it’s gone. You come out here with very high hopes and big ambitions about trying to bring the urn back to England for the first time in a while. It sucks and it hurts, it’s disappointing,” he said.

“But morale in terms of going forward over these next two games, it’s making guys understand that this isn’t the end of the tour.

“We’ve still got two big games to play and although we can’t get back to the UK with what we set out here to do, still walking out there with the three lines on your shirt representing everyone who’s played before us, people who will play after us, fans, supporters, all that kind of stuff.

“So when you put it and think of it like that, then there’s still so much to play for. There’s obviously been a disappointment floating about, but there’s still a lot to play for because (in) five, 10, 15 years’ time when we’re not able to walk out there and play in front of 100,000 people at MCG, that’ll be pretty disappointing. So you’ve got to enjoy it while we can.”