Ben Stokes Calls Out England Teammates in Frank Interview After Australia Defeat

England face an uphill battle in their bid to win the 2025/26 Ashes Series in Australia after falling to defeat in the second Test in Brisbane.

Australia will take a 2-0 lead into the third Test later this month after cruising to an eight-wicket win at The Gabba.

England lost the first Test by eight wickets as well, meaning they will need a miraculous turnaround to stand any chance of pulling it back from here.

Their performances have left captain Ben Stokes infuriated, and he told TNT Sports that his team have not been able to stand up to the pressure Down Under.

"When the game is on the line, teams are able to handle that pressure better than us," Stokes said.

"We are a great team when we are ahead, when we are behind and playing huge catch-up we are great, but when then game is on the line we are not able to stand up to pressure. That is obvious as a captain.

"It's a mentality, a mindset. How you get yourself into a head space to make clear decisions is so important to be successful at this level.

"No-one means to drop catches or not bowl where you are supposed to but those things cannot happen at this level."

Stokes added: "We knew exactly how we needed to bowl and we weren't able to do it for a long enough period to pu Australia under pressure, that was evident in the way they were able to score so quickly and easily.

"We weren't able to execute with bat and ball and we'll be having some conversations in the dressing room.

"It seems to be a constant theme that when the pressure is on, Australia keep outdoing us. They say Australia is not a place for weak men and we are definitely not weak but we need to find something."

The third test will get underway in Adelaide on December 16.

England came back from 2-0 down to draw the 2023 Ashes series, but that would not be enough to win the urn.