England captain Ben Stokes brushes off pre-Ashes war of words between cricket legends as ‘quite funny to see’Josh KemptonThe West AustralianWed, 12 November 2025 10:42AMCommentsComments
England captain Ben Stokes has brushed off the brewing war of words between Australian and English legends ahead of the Ashes, saying the hostilities between the two sides had been “quite funny to see”.
Legendary English fast bowler Stuart Broad, who will commentate the series on Channel Seven, threw the first barb when he declared on his podcast the series would see “probably the worst Australian team since 2010 when England last won” in Australia confront “the best English team since 2010”.
On the Australian side, Glenn McGrath has opted for his customary prediction of a 5-0 Australian win, while former captain Kim Hughes derided David Lloyd’s playful prediction of an English whitewash as laughable.
Stokes said he felt the build-up to the Ashes was getting bigger every time they came around.
“The war of words between the two nations, that starts about two months out from the first Test. I don’t think it’s been any different,” he said.
“I think the build-up’s always hyped up and always gets quite spicy the closer you get to the first game.
“I think we’ll just let the outside people have those wars of words. It’s quite funny to see.”
All-rounder Stokes, who was appointed captain of England in 2022, is on his third away Ashes tour but is heading up a squad featuring only six players who have played a Test on Australian shores before.
He said the side’s senior figures would make sure their less experienced teammates were well aware of what to expect in the Ashes cauldron.
“Coming to Australia for the Ashes is a lot different than anything else when you’re playing. There’s a lot more that goes on away from the cricket itself,” Stokes said.
“It’s just making everyone aware that’s the case but making sure it’s nothing to be afraid of, nothing to be scared of, and don’t shy away from it.”
England’s low-key preparations for the first Test which will see them play only one three-day game against their ‘A’ side the England Lions have been smashed by legendary all-rounder Sir Ian Botham as “bordering on arrogance”.
But Stokes said a schedule which was “pretty jam-packed” did not leave any time for a longer build-up.
“I don’t really know what we’re supposed to do, to be honest,” he said.
“To prepare how teams probably would’ve done 10, 15, 20, 30 years ago, I think there’s a lot of factors that have changed over the years in cricket.
“Come the 21st of this month, we know that we would’ve done everything that is possible that we could’ve done to be in the right place to go out there and hopefully start the tour how we want.”
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