(Cricket news) England captain Ben Stokes before the start of the series made a bold statement when he said “We’re going to play without fear. We’re going to hold nothing back.” The promise was kept but there are still question marks whether it was the right thing to do. Australia ended up winning the Test by 2 wickets despite England dominating the game. There were a few decisions that Ben Stokes took which may have cost England the game. As a whole, it did make the match unique and entertaining because of some unusual tactics. 

After electing to bat first England scored at a rate of 5.04 runs per over. England were 393/8 when Ben Stokes shocked the world by declaring the innings. The pitch was pretty good to bat on and 393 was just a par score on it. On top of that Joe Root was looking very lethal on 118 not out while Ollie Robinson was also looking comfortable and the conditions were good to bat on. Stokes clearly did that to make Australian openers David Warner and Usman Khawaja bat for some time before stumps. In the end England didn’t get a wicket and in hindsight, they could’ve added around 50 runs and batted Australia out of the game. 

Stokes’ field settings were also unusual as he put two leg slips for Steve Smith when he came out to survive Stuart Broad’s hat-trick delivery. Against Usman Khawaja, Stokes had an umbrella field set up with 6 close-in catchers in front of the bat. The plan worked as Khawaja got out soon after. Stokes has already come out and said that he doesn’t regret the declaration and he will continue to come hard at the Aussies. Coach Brendon McCullum also said the same thing but next time they might be a little careful with declarations.

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