WE HAVE TO BE GREAT

'GOOD IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH' SAYS STOKES AS HE PREPARES FOR THE ULTIMATE 10-GAME TEST.

- Jeremy Cross

BEN STOKES has issued a rallying call as England begin their Test series against India today, saying: "We want to be better than good." The skipper leads his side into the opening day of the first Test at Headingley as England start a 10-match sequence that could define Stokes' reign as red-ball captain, with the Ashes in Australia to follow this winter.

England lost 4-1 when they toured India in 2023-24, but Stokes said: "[In] home conditions, we know it a lot better but that doesn't mean it is going to be easier than what it was out in India.