Stokes refuses to give up hope as Ashes ambitions hang by thread

Ben Stokes refuses to give up hope of winning the Ashes despite going 2-0 down in the five-match series after another heavy loss to Australia at the Gabba on Sunday.

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England went into the series with many at home believing they had a real chance of regaining the Ashes. But after a two-day loss in Perth and Sunday's eight-wicket defeat in Brisbane, those aims already look doomed.

"The worst thing to do now is to not have hope and not realise that we've still got the opportunity to do what we came out here to do," Stokes said.

"I haven't lost hope, the dressing room hasn't lost hope and I'll be doing everything I can as a captain to make sure that everyone is as positive as they possibly can be."

Stokes and all-rounder Will Jacks gave England some joy on Sunday as they batted for three hours, defying the Australian attack with "old fashioned" Test cricket.

They avoided extravagant stroke-making in favour of leaving good balls and scoring runs through singles rather than boundaries.