The Ashes: England don’t fear the ‘Gabbatoir’ as captain Ben Stokes urges players to have fun off the field | Cricket News

England have no fear of ‘Gabbatoir’, captain Ben Stokes said as he urged his players to continue having fun off the field in Australia despite intense media scrutiny.

England have won just two Ashes Tests in Brisbane in their last 20 attempts, their last match at The Gabba being a nine-wicket defeat in 2021 at the start of a 4-0 series loss.

Speaking ahead of the day’s clash in Queensland from Thursday, where his side will be looking to level the five-match series following their two-day defeat in Perth, Stokes also told his team not to remain holed up inside while the local media follow their movements.

Stokes, wicketkeeper-batsman Jimmy Smith and injured bowler Mark Wood were photographed riding e-scooters in Brisbane without mandatory safety helmets.

“A lot of our guys are on their first Ashes tour, so this will be a new experience for them. No, it’s not a lot of fear,” the all-rounder said of The Gabba.

“Every time you go out, your juices always flow, no matter where you play.

“For Australia, I think the Gabba is a bit like Edgbaston or Headingley for us, where you have a lot of confidence at home if you have good records on those grounds.

“You also realize that Australia knows this is very good territory for them but we are excited about that.

“Obviously the teams’ records go back a very long time. A lot of teams have gone to the Gabba and lost to Australia but this is a brand new team.”

“We need to enjoy Australia – it’s the best country to tour.”

Regarding the intense media presence that follows his team, Stokes added: “Australia is the best country to tour outside of cricket.

“There are so many things to do. One of the important things on tour when you are under pressure is to get out, free your mind and enjoy yourself.

“They will be there and filming us, so the message to the group is please don’t make decisions based on the fact that you might be caught on camera.

“We are human beings. We need to enjoy countries when we have the chance, because we live in England, where it is miserable, very cold and dark at 4pm.

“I don’t see anything wrong with going out and spending your time on a golf course, having coffee or lunch, or riding a motorcycle.

“It’s okay if they are [the media] We want to continue doing this, they are all polite and do not intrude on our personal space. “We have a job to do, and they have a job to do.”

What is the key for England in the day-night Test?

England have lost five of their seven night Tests, including all three in Australia, while the home team has recorded 13 wins from 14 in the format, with the only defeat coming to the West Indies in Brisbane in January 2024.

“We have an amazing resource with information and data and all that kind of stuff,” Stokes said. “I asked our analyst to send me all the information about the day-night cricket that has been played at the Gabba and also in Australia recently.

“There’s daylight and dusk and also the period when the floodlights are on, so you’re just trying to give yourself as much information as possible.

“The thing we talked about was the awareness of keeping that ball as dry as possible, because once that pink ball is soft, it’s very difficult to feel like you can get a breakthrough with anything on the wicket.

“We’ve been all over the world where you get a softer ball and it seems a lot harder to make breakthroughs because of that softer ball. All those little things we had to take into account for this week.

“I think our liaison officers were tasked with going out and buying about 60 sweat bands for all of us.”

Ashes series in Australia 2025-26

All times in the UK and Ireland

• First Test (Perth – 21-25 November): Australia beat England by eight wickets
• Second test (day/night): Thursday 4 December – Monday 8 December (4am) – The Gabba, Brisbane
• Third test: Wednesday 17 December – Sunday 21 December (11:30pm) – Adelaide Oval
• Fourth test: Thursday 25 December – Monday 29 December (11:30pm) – Melbourne Cricket Ground
• Fifth test: Sunday 4 January – Thursday 8 January (11:30pm) – Sydney Cricket Ground