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England captain Ben Stokes on Dawson recall and India fourth test at Old Trafford
22/07/2025
Old Trafford stadium, Manchester, UK
22/07/2025
Old Trafford stadium, Manchester, UK
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SportsTranscript
00:00James Cole from Sky Sports News, go ahead.
00:02Hi Ben, a chance to clinch the series off the back of an epic Lord's win
00:06and at a ground you guys have a very good record at.
00:09You must be very confident going into this test.
00:13Yeah, obviously it was a very good win for us last week.
00:17Nice break and hopefully we can continue the efforts that we've been putting in.
00:25I think the efforts we put in obviously gave us the reward at the end of the game.
00:30So, yeah, look, we'll be looking to put that same energy and effort into this week
00:34and hopefully we can come out on top.
00:36You've made just the one change, Liam Dawson coming in for sure, Bashir.
00:40Eight years since Dawson's last test cap.
00:43Why do you feel now is the time for him?
00:45Yeah, look, he's been performing really well for Hampshire, you know, for a while now.
00:53And yeah, I think he's obviously getting recalled into the white ball team as well.
00:58He's showed that he can just sort of come back in and, you know, get to work straight away.
01:04I think someone when you've got as much experience as Liam Dawson has,
01:08it makes coming back in a sort of, not easier, but does make it easier if that makes any sense at all.
01:15You know, because he's got all that experience to fall back on.
01:18Obviously, you know, I'm sure there'll be a bit of nerves for Dawson coming back in
01:22and playing his first game in eight years, as you said.
01:25But yeah, he's a very good cricketer and I'm excited for him this week.
01:29He'd have thought his international career was over.
01:32He's 35, but is this an opportunity for him to rejuvenate his test career?
01:38Yeah, I think, you know, if you get called back into a squad after a while,
01:41regardless of how old you are, you obviously, you know,
01:44you want to showcase your skills that you've got,
01:46regardless of how old you are, you know, it could be a,
01:51Dawson coming back in could be a, you know,
01:54people might look to that who are sort of ageing a bit maybe,
01:57knowing that it's not the end of the road and, you know,
02:00I don't think Dawson's the type of person or character to maybe ever think that
02:04in the back of his mind, but yeah, it just shows if you keep working hard
02:07and keep putting in good performances consistently,
02:10then, you know, you're always going to be spoken about and be there or thereabouts.
02:13The door would be open for the Ashes potentially if he could prove himself?
02:16Yeah, let's stick with this one for now.
02:18Okay, and in terms of Chris Wokes playing the fourth test of the series
02:23and choosing him ahead of Gus Atkinson,
02:26what was the thinking there in terms of the attack?
02:28Yeah, I think, obviously, we had a real big break after the Lords game,
02:33so good opportunity for everyone to just get their feet up and freshen up.
02:40But Wokes has got a very good record here and, yeah,
02:45it's one of those where, you know, we've managed to win two of the first three games
02:49pretty much with, you know, a very similar bowling attack.
02:54Obviously, we had Joff come in last week, which was a big bonus.
02:57But, look, I think outside of the rewards that Wokes he hasn't got with the ball,
03:02he's a very important player for us.
03:05You know, he adds that control with the ball.
03:08It's very handy having him down the order.
03:09And, yeah, we won last week,
03:12so we didn't see there was a necessary change to make for this week.
03:15And we saw the return of some sledging and confrontational cricket at Lords.
03:18Is that something you could employ both here and also going forward
03:21to get the best out of your players?
03:24I don't think it's one of those things where we're going to necessarily
03:26just go out and start at it.
03:30I don't think either teams, you know, really look to do that.
03:34I think there's just always going to be a moment in a test series
03:37where something does heat up.
03:38You know, it's a massive series.
03:40There's a lot of pressure on both teams to go out and perform.
03:43So, look, the environment when you're out there,
03:47obviously, there's going to be some moments and some heat showing.
03:50And, yeah, obviously, that night when Zach and Ben had to go out
03:54just sort of started it off.
03:58And, look, we had the advantage of bowling last in a test match to win.
04:03And so, yeah, we just threw everything that we possibly could at India,
04:06not only with our skills, but also with our energy in the field as well.
04:09Harry Brooks said, Brendan McCollum said,
04:11you guys have been too nice.
04:12Do you agree?
04:14Yeah, I think, you know, potentially.
04:19But I guess it was one of those.
04:20It was a real nice moment, I think, as a team that, you know,
04:23when you speak about something like that,
04:24then everyone buys into that.
04:26As I said, it's not something that we're going to purposely go out
04:29and look to start again because then that will take our focus off
04:31what we actually need to do out in the middle.
04:34But by no means that, you know, we're not going to take a backward step
04:37and let, you know, any opposition try and be confrontational towards us
04:42and not try and give a bit back.
04:45I think that goes for most teams, to be honest, anyway.
04:47So it's not like we're the only team who does that.
04:50Patrick?
04:51Ben, 44 overs, I think, at Lords.
04:53How have you been feeling physically in the last week?
04:55And if need be, could you do that much bowling again here?
04:57Yeah, it was, yeah, look, we had a really good break.
05:02So I was true to my word about what I said at the end of the game
05:05about being in bed for a couple of days.
05:08I did do that.
05:09I felt like I was in a long-distance relationship with my family
05:12because I hardly seen them being at home.
05:14So, yeah, if the situation requires it again,
05:20then, yeah, I'll obviously do what I need to do.
05:2320 years ago, this week, Ben, the start of 2005, Ashes.
05:28I think the series has a lot of things in common with this one
05:31in terms of a bit of aggro and some excellent cricket.
05:34Do you think this is a similar kind of compelling summer?
05:39Oh, I think so far the, you know, the series has been, you know,
05:43great to play in and I presume it's been pretty good to watch as well.
05:48You know, that 2005 Ashes series was great to watch.
05:53And I think we've gone all five days and all three tests so far.
05:58So it just proves that the quality of cricket has been outstanding so far.
06:03You know, two teams going toe-to-toe and, you know,
06:06not very much separating us at the moment.
06:08So, look, it's been a great series so far.
06:11Still got two big games to go and obviously one of those two starts tomorrow.
06:16So, yeah, it's been good to be a part of so far.
06:19With some traditional Mancunian weather, what are you expecting from the pitch?
06:25I don't really know, to be honest.
06:30I'll have to wait and see.
06:31Yeah, it's been, yeah, I don't know.
06:37First three wickets sort of haven't necessarily played the way that we thought they were going to.
06:40But just waiting to see if the Manchester rain manages to hold off.
06:46So, we'll see.
06:49Dave and then Joe and then we'll go.
06:52Patrick mentioned, obviously, you bowled 44 overs last week,
06:55including a 9-over spell and then a 10-over spell on the final day.
06:58I was just wondering, do you get enjoyment out of those spells when you're doing them?
07:02And is it a sign that you maybe have full trust in your body again?
07:09I don't think enjoyment's the right word.
07:13It was one of those day five, you know, got nothing else to do for a while after that.
07:21And, you know, there was a test match win there for us to try and win.
07:25And, yeah, I just felt really good.
07:29And even though I only got sort of two wickets throughout the day,
07:33I just felt like I was threatening.
07:35My rhythm felt really good.
07:38Everything felt just sort of easy.
07:41You know, as a bowler, sometimes when you get into those rhythms,
07:43you just feel like you're just going through the motions
07:45and you feel like you're sort of just warming up, if that makes sense.
07:48But everything's just coming out really well.
07:50And, yeah, I've consistently felt threatening in those spells,
07:54hence why I kept on going.
07:56And, yeah, enjoyment, probably not the right word.
08:02But, yeah, just wanted to win the game for my team.
08:05Is it a positive sign, though, that you can be able to do these things
08:08after so many frustrating injury setbacks?
08:10Yeah, I think it is a good sign for me personally.
08:14Obviously, I feel like I've been relatively sensible with my loads so far
08:21in terms of breaking up, you know, my overs throughout our fielding innings.
08:25But, as I said, it got to that day five and, you know,
08:28I was going to leave everything out there.
08:31And, you know, it could have worked out differently.
08:34I might have bowled three or four spells throughout the day.
08:35But, as I said, those two spells and I was bowling, everything felt really good.
08:38Hence why I kept on going.
08:39But, yeah, it is obviously a positive thing for me,
08:42knowing that all the hard work that I did do before the series
08:45and getting my body robust
08:46and putting myself in a good position physically,
08:49being able to bowl those spells and feel really good throughout them
08:53was a good positive sign for my body.
08:57Joe, and we'll go up to Will.
08:59Hi, Ben.
09:00Joe Root is 120 runs away from becoming the second leading run scorer in Test history.
09:04So, really, just a word on him and the incredible achievement.
09:10Yeah.
09:12Sometimes, like, those less is more, maybe.
09:14I don't think I need to say anything else except he's just the absolute goat.
09:23Will, and then Stefan.
09:25Ben, you, sorry.
09:26At Lord's, you got pinged on the over-eight again.
09:29I wonder whether you were, how you felt about that.
09:32Are you thinking about it as a team needing to speed up
09:35and are you signing the form for the ICC at the moment?
09:38I'm not signing the form, no.
09:43Look, I can understand it from an external point of view around the overs.
09:48I really do.
09:51But it's a very tough thing to do when I feel
09:57there's more to it than just getting rounds, you know,
10:01getting to a lot, just quicken up, get through your overs.
10:04You know, there's a lot that actually goes out on the field, you know.
10:07You've got fast bowlers, you know, bending their back consistently.
10:11So, throughout the course of a game,
10:14the time of overs is going to come down
10:17because you've just got tired bodies, you know.
10:19Played five days.
10:20That was our 15th day of cricket.
10:21We obviously had an injury to bash a spinner.
10:26So, we couldn't turn to our spinner as much as we would have liked to on day five.
10:30So, we had to, you know, throw seam at them for pretty much the whole day.
10:34So, that's obviously going to slow things down.
10:36You know, and there is periods in the game
10:39where you do try and just slow everything down just to,
10:42yeah, more tactically if anything like that.
10:45So, overrate isn't something that I worry about.
10:50But that's not saying that I purposely slow things down.
10:54I do understand the frustration around it.
10:56But I honestly think there needs to be a real hard look at how it's structured.
11:04You know, you can't have the same rules in Asia
11:06where spin is bowling 70% of the overs
11:10to have the same laws in, you know, New Zealand, Australia, England
11:16where it's going to be 70-80% of seam mould
11:18because the spin is over takes less time than the seam is over.
11:22So, you know, common sense would think that
11:24you should look at maybe changing how the overrates are timed
11:28in different continents.
11:31Yeah, I think as well, like, the overrates obviously have gone down
11:35over the course of quite a few years now.
11:37I wonder if scoring rates have got anything to do with that as well.
11:41You know, balls are getting hit to the boundary more often
11:44so it's obviously going to take a lot longer.
11:45So, I think there's just so much that influences how your overrates
11:49can be affected that it can't just be as simple as
11:52this is the time, this is what you need to do
11:54because you want to keep the quality of cricket as high as you possibly can
11:58and there is times in games where, you know,
12:02there isn't a game on the line where you will just throw the ball
12:05to a spinner to get your overs round
12:06but then that's just, you know, you're playing an international game
12:09where you're just trying to get your overrate back.
12:11I don't think people want to come and watch that.
12:13Stefan, please, then we'll go to Matt.
12:16Hi, Ben.
12:16You've had Gilbert and Oka around the club this summer.
12:20Why did you feel you wanted him to bring him in
12:22and what has he brought to the group?
12:25Yeah, I've seen all the time off we had between the New Zealand series
12:30and Zimbabwe this summer.
12:34Me and Baz and, you know, we spoke a lot about what we want to do
12:37and how we want to take the team forward
12:39and we can say as much as we want
12:44but we don't have the knowledge or the experience
12:46in, you know, pushing teams on to the next level
12:51like of where we want to go to.
12:54So, you know, if you've got the opportunity
12:57to have someone come into your group
12:59and help you put into words what you want to try and do
13:03and what you want to try and achieve as a team
13:05that's what we needed to do
13:07and, luckily, Baz has known Gilbert for a long, long time.
13:12I'm sure you've all looked up Gilbert's CV.
13:17Pretty good.
13:20So, yeah, he's come in.
13:22We've spent some time around the team.
13:24I think he's been able to put into words
13:26what we want to do a lot better
13:29than what me and Baz would ever be able to do.
13:33And, yeah, you know, I think every team
13:35who ends up being, you know, as good as they possibly can be
13:38do have some external help come in
13:40and help put what we want to achieve into words.
13:43So, yeah, look, we've just given ourselves, you know,
13:46as much chance as we possibly kind of kicking on
13:49to where we want to be
13:49and we both felt that Gilbert was the right person to do that.
13:52Matt, go ahead, please.
13:55Hi, Ben.
13:56Just on Liam Dawson,
13:58could you talk a little bit about some of the specific attributes
14:01he has that you like in the 1M selection
14:04over some of the other candidates for that spot?
14:08Yeah, I think, see, now having...
14:11I think a big bonus is having Baz coaching both teams.
14:16We've obviously got Brookie, captain of the 1-day team
14:18and been in this team as well.
14:19So, I've known Dawson for a long time.
14:22I know, you know, the cricketer he is.
14:24But I think what does go under the radar
14:27is his competitiveness.
14:30And, obviously, he's just a cricketer
14:34who gives you so much, you know, with the ball.
14:37But, you know, having someone like him down the order again,
14:40hopefully we're not relying on his runs
14:42at number eight or nine.
14:44But, yeah, just, I think he's earned his call up to the test team
14:50on the back of an unfortunate injury to Bash.
14:54So, yeah, he's earned the call on all this hard work
14:57that he's done, you know, back at Hampshire
14:58and around the world and different franchise leagues
15:00and everything like that.
15:02So, yeah, quality cricketer and very, very competitive.
15:06Ben, you said hopefully you won't be relying on Liam's runs.
15:14But how important is it to have that talent in depth?
15:17You know, you've got a pretty strong lower order now,
15:19haven't you, with, you know, Biden at 10 and Joffre at 11.
15:23How important is that?
15:26No, I wouldn't like to put importance on having Joffre at 11.
15:30But it is always nice looking at your team sheet
15:34knowing that you're back all the way down to your tail end.
15:39So, but, yeah, just look,
15:42you don't want to be putting too much onus
15:44and you don't select your team going,
15:46oh, we need to have a stronger number 11.
15:49It just worked out that way.
15:51But, yeah, we're just, I think we're blessed at the moment
15:53in England with some very good cricketers
15:55and when you put a team together
15:57and then you look at the team sheet that we've got this week
15:59and you realise that we've got some seriously talented cricketers
16:01around the country, it does help.
16:03So, yeah.
16:07Nick, and then one to finish off at the front.
16:09The Gilbert and Oko,
16:11is it mainly to do with culture of the team
16:14and sort of what is that culture that you want with your team?
16:18Yeah, like, I mean, not just culture.
16:21I think, you know, obviously when we spoke,
16:25Gilbert asked what my vision was
16:27and what Baz's vision was of the team
16:30about taking it forward many months ago
16:31and, as you say, he went away
16:33and he's just able to put into words
16:35to deliver to a group
16:36in a very clear and simple way.
16:39You know, like, culture around how we operate as a team
16:43on the field, off the field,
16:45the meaning of why we do everything.
16:48You know, me and Baz are very big on the choices
16:53and options that you take.
16:54Not only should be involved around you
16:56but also around your teammates.
16:58So, having someone come in
17:01and speak from experience
17:02around an unbelievable team
17:04like he worked with the All Blacks
17:06who almost share some of those certain values
17:08was nice to hear, I guess,
17:11that we're sort of very similar
17:13in that way of our mindset
17:15towards what we want to be doing as a team.
17:19But, yeah, you know, culture,
17:20how we want to do,
17:21how our behaviours are
17:23and, you know,
17:25like training,
17:27all that kind of stuff
17:28about, you know,
17:29being as good as you possibly can be.
17:30It's just a lot better
17:32coming from someone
17:33who's done that
17:35and been very successful
17:36in team sports like Gilbert has.
17:37And the last one
17:39at the front here, please.
17:40Ben, sorry about another
17:41Bumrah question
17:42in the press conference.
17:44But, if you were his captain,
17:46how would you manage his workload?
17:48Would you play him
17:49in all the remaining games?
17:51I'm not his captain.
17:53On that, we're done.
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