English Test captain Ben Stokes has urged critics not to describe England’s series-opening performance in the ongoing Ashes as “arrogant”. England suffered an eight-wicket defeat to Australia in the first Test of the five-match series in Perth. Stokes stated that although the result was disappointing, England were “great” during certain phases of the match.

He added that he had no issue with people criticising the team’s execution but felt the label “arrogant” was unfair. Stokes emphasized that the team did not have the performance they wanted but played well in important moments during the Test.

"Look, you can call us rubbish, call us whatever you want. We didn't have the Test match that we wanted to. We were great in passages of that game, but I think 'arrogant' might be a little bit too far. But that's okay. We'll take the rough with the smooth. I'd rather words like 'rubbish', but 'arrogant', I'm not so sure about that," stated Stokes, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

Stokes Says Fans Are Disappointed but England Still Chasing Ashes Glory

Stokes acknowledged the disappointment that English fans must be feeling after the heavy defeat. However, he remained firm that the team’s primary goal remains unchanged to win the Ashes series. He reminded that it is a five-match contest and England still have four Tests left to turn things around.

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"We know that there'll be a lot of disappointed fans in England after that first defeat. But it's a five-game series, we've got four games to go, we've lost the first one - we're absolutely desperate to come home with that goal from before we even started the series, which is to win the Ashes," concluded Stokes. England posted 172 and 164 in the two innings, failing to capitalise on their 40-run first-innings lead. Australia cruised to victory thanks to a Travis Head century and a 10-wicket match haul from Mitchell Starc. England’s next challenge will be the pink-ball second Test starting December 4 in Brisbane.