Stokes already has an eye on the Ashes as England step into a new era

THIS is a new era for England. The departure of James Anderson will dominate the headlines, but this is a head-to-toe change of course for Ben Stokes’s team.

- Cameron Ponsonby

After two years of Stokes’s captaincy, the mantra has changed from ‘be where your feet are’ and not look too far ahead, to ‘planning for tomorrow is as important as winning today’, with the Ashes on the far horizon.

“I’ve been captain for two years now,” said Stokes at Lord’s, a day out from the first Test of the summer. “And two years is a long time for something to be fine for. But I also want to push this team as far as they can go.

“You look at where we’ve got to go in 18 months to Australia. We want to win that urn back. I’ll be nearly four years as captain when we go out there. I want to be able to go out there knowing we’ve done everything possible right over this 18-month period to go there with a strong enough squad to not just compete with Australia but to beat them.

“It’s probably the first time you’ve heard me speak like that about something so far away, but again it goes back to progression as a side. I want this team to progress over the next 18 months, so I’m focusing on that, because I want us to go out to Australia and win the Ashes back.”