Ben Stokes reacts to England’s eight-wicket hammering to Australia in first 2025-26 Ashes Test
England captain Ben Stokes admitted that he was a bit “shell-shocked” after his side were hammered by eight wickets in the first 2025-26 Ashes Test against Australia at Perth, thanks to a stunning knock of 123 from 83 balls by Travis Head. Chasing 205 runs for victory, Head was pushed up to open the batting in Usman Khawaja’s absence, and he blasted his way to a century, thereby paving the way for a crushing win and helping the hosts go 1-0 up in the series.The all-rounder said that Head’s innings had knocked the wind out of the visitors. “Little bit shell-shocked there, Travis Head was phenomenal, jeez, that was some knock. The way the game eked out, the guys seem to have success with the bat in hand; they wanted to take the game on, never think we have got enough. That knock from Travis knocked the wind out of us,” Stokes said at the post-match presentation. Stokes admitted that Head was “going like a train” in the middle despite putting forth multiple plans to …
