Dear Ben Stokes,
History often remembers the final scoreline. However, it frequently ignores the grit found within the margins of defeat. You stand today as the captain who oversaw England’s first Test victory on Australian soil in 15 years.
This statistic feels both relieving and momentous. The history books will record that Australia retained the urn before Christmas in the 2025/26 Ashes series. However, they will also state that you refused to let the campaign die a quiet death. That chaotic, two-day heist at the Melbourne Cricket Ground was more than just a consolation win. It showed a refusal to give up even when the broader war was already lost.
You took the reins of this team in 2022 when English Test cricket sat at its lowest ebb. Joe Root had stepped down following a dismal run. The team looked devoid of confidence or direction. You immediately brought in a philosophy that prioritised aggression over survival.
This mindset transformed the dressing room culture almost overnight. We watched you strip away the fear of failure that had paralysed English batting lineups for a decade. You demanded that your players express themselves.
You backed them even when the results did not follow immediately. That initial shift in 2022 saved the format in England. Now, three years later, you still carry that torch. You hold it high even as the winds of the Australian summer try to blow it out.
The 2025/26 Ashes series has tested your resolve more than any other challenge in your career. Losing the first three Tests in Perth, Brisbane, and Adelaide brought a familiar sinking feeling to fans back home. The defeats stung. We saw the batting collapses return.
The Australian pace attack tore through defences with brutal efficiency. Critics sharpened their knives, and the “Noosa Row” threatened to derail the team’s focus entirely. A lesser leader might have let the squad fracture under such intense media scrutiny. You, however, kept the group tight.
You shielded the younger players like Jacob Bethell and Josh Tongue from the vitriol. You absorbed the pressure yourself so they could focus on the cricket. That leadership off the field often escapes the cameras, but it matters just as much as tactical decisions made in the middle.
Then came Melbourne.
The Boxing Day Test of 2025 will live long in the memory. We will remember it for its sheer, unadulterated madness rather than its length. You walked out onto the MCG turf with the series gone. However, you marshalled your troops as if the fate of the world depended on it. We watched twenty wickets fall in a single day.
This frenetic pace usually signals an England capitulation. Instead, you turned the chaos into a weapon. You trusted Josh Tongue to lead the attack. He rewarded that faith with a five-wicket haul that broke the back of the Australian batting order.
When the hosts threatened to set an imposing target, you grabbed the ball yourself. Your spell of three for 24 proved pivotal. You removed key obstacles and kept the target to a chaseable 175.
That chase demanded nerves of steel. We have seen England crumble in similar positions countless times before. When the top order wobbled, the ghosts of 2010 seemed ready to haunt us again. However, you told Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett to attack the new ball. They forged a fifty-run stand that broke the tension.
More impressively, you watched young Jacob Bethell play with a maturity far beyond his years. His composed 40 off 46 balls in the MCG cauldron showcased your core belief. You have proven that talent beats experience when you remove fear from the equation. England crossed the line with four wickets in hand. You silenced the critics who claimed a whitewash was inevitable.
You deserve immense praise for your personal contributions with the ball. In Perth, you claimed five for 23. These are the best figures by an England captain in Australia in nearly a century. You have led from the front. You threw your body into spell after spell despite your chronic knee issues.
You hold the record now for the most sixes in Test history. However, this series has highlighted your value as a pure bowler and a tactician. You set fields that confused the Australian batters. You rotated your bowlers to keep them fresh in the heat. You never let the game drift.
However, honesty remains the best policy. The batting unit still needs work. We cannot ignore that the team failed to post a competitive total in the first three Tests. The aggressive approach works when the execution matches the intent.
Too often, batters threw their wickets away at crucial moments. You need to find a balance between positive play and reckless abandon. We need the top order to value their wickets more dearly. This is vital against a quality attack like Australia’s. The tendency to collapse remains the team’s Achilles’ heel. You must address this inconsistency if England hopes to reclaim the urn in 2027.
On top of that, the weight of captaincy and bowling workloads has hampered your own batting form. We know you thrive on pressure. Yet, the team needs you to score big hundreds rather than cameo twenties. You possess the technique to bat for long periods. We want to see you anchor the innings again.
Still, we celebrate this moment. You broke the 15-year curse. You looked the Australians in the eye at their fortress and blinked last. The series scoreline reads 3-1 as of now, going into the SCG, but the momentum has shifted. You have shown the world that this England team really has some fight in it. Sydney awaits. While the urn stays in Australia, you have restored pride to the Three Lions badge.
Thank you for the fight.
Sincerely,
A Believing Fan
