LONDON: England captain Ben Stokes has warned Australia that he has asked for “fast, flat wickets” to take the attack to the Ashes holders later this year.
Stokes is hoping to lead England to their first Test series victory over Australia since 2015 and he believes pitch conditions will be crucial.
The all-rounder wants groundsmen at Edgbaston, Lord’s, Old Trafford, Headingley and The Oval — the five venues staging Ashes Tests — to produce the kind of quick pitches that will allow England to use the aggressive game-plan he has deployed with great success since taking over as captain.
“We’ve been very clear with the ground-staff around England about what type of wickets we want and they’ve been very responsive to us, which is good,” Stokes said on Sky Sports on Tuesday.
“We want fast, flat wickets. We want to go out there and score quickly. I’m smiling because I’m looking forward to it.
“There’s no point changing just because we’re coming into an Ashes series. Every player knows the Ashes is where everything ramps up a bit - pressure, exposure, all kinds of stuff - but we’ll just keep sticking to what we do.”
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