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Stokes says 'shell-shocked' England must move on fast from crushing loss / Photo: © AFP
Stokes says 'shell-shocked' England must move on fast from crushing loss
Captain Ben Stokes admitted Saturday he was "shell-shocked" at a crushing loss to Australia in the first Ashes Test but told his England team they must move on fast for the next clash in Brisbane.
The tourists had a golden opportunity to win a Test in Australia for the first time in 15 years, but they blew it inside two days at Perth Stadium.
After crumbling under a bowling onslaught from Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland, their hyped pace attack had no answer to a rampant Travis Head, who thrashed an incredible 123 to seal victory by eight wickets.
"Little bit shell-shocked, it was pretty phenomenal from Head," Stokes said. "It's pretty raw, pretty emotional, but that was some knock.
"We tried three or four different plans to get him, but when he's going like a train he's very hard to stop."
Despite the demoralising loss Stokes saw some positives, particularly their first-innings bowling effort which saw Australia dismissed for 132.
"The way in which we bowled yesterday was phenomenal. A lot happened on day one, a good day for the bowlers," he said.
"It's a tough one as we felt we were in control. We'll let this sink in, but we've got four more games.
"It's a long time before Brisbane, we'll go away and put in the graft."
The day-night Brisbane Test starts on December 4.
With so many players in the squad experiencing their first Ashes, Stokes admitted he had his hands full trying to lift them.
"Yeah, I think we've got to let that whole two hours sort of sink in first and reflect on it properly, without the emotion that's attached to what's just gone on there," he said, referring to Head's knock.
"Obviously there's disappointment when you come off the field being on the losing side.
"So that's up to myself. It's up to some of the other senior guys who have a lot of experience in big series like these because you've got to let emotions like this sink in, and it has got to hurt.
"But also you've then got to get rid of them as quickly as you possibly can, while also learning from it.
"Because when we get to Brisbane we need to be back up to that mindset of how we came into this game, still very confident of our abilities and achieving the goal.
"It's crucial about not taking any baggage from this result into Brisbane."
M. Andrade--JDB
