England captain Ben Stokes was left speechless as he attempted to begin his pre-match press conference but was forced to stop thanks to team-mate Mark Wood. As the press officer began to state the order in which questions would be asked ahead of the fifth and final Ashes Test against Australia, a familiar song was played over the speakers.
After the release of the ‘Barbie’ film, Wood felt the need to blast ‘Barbie Girl’ by Aqua out loud to plenty of laughs from the room. When Stokes looked perplexed as he shook his head, before being asked to guess which of his team-mates was nearby pulling the prank. He took a brief pause before saying “…Woody?”
Stokes was able to focus after Wood left and went on to confirm that England will remain unchanged going into the final test. “Everyone’s pulled up well,” said the captain. “It’s been a tough four games and I think one little positive we could maybe take from the rain (at Old Trafford) is that the bowlers got a bit more rest.
“It’s a strange one to look at from that point of view. But with the quick turnaround and the game we have here, knowing what we need to do, you could see that as a tiny positive, although it’s very hard to say it’s a positive.”
When asked about Jimmy Anderson, who has struggled throughout this series amid questions over the 40-year-old’s future in the game, Stokes replied: “Although he’s not had the impact or the wickets he would have liked to in this series, he’s a quality bowler and quality performer.
“Jimmy’s come under a bit of flack for that but if Joe [Root] hadn’t scored the runs he would have liked, you wouldn’t be questioning him staying in the team as a batter. James Anderson is the greatest fast-bowler to play the game.”
After rain ruined England’s chances of levelling the series at Old Trafford, Stokes admitted that it was a “bizarre feeling” having failed to get the opportunity to counter the Aussies. “I’ve never left a field, or a game feeling pretty emotionless. It was a bizarre feeling, the game petered out the way it did because of the weather,” he added.
“You look back and think ‘Do you wish we’d got beat’ or we had played and Australia pulled a draw off? We leave the ground when you can’t do anything, it’s a strange place to be. It makes you feel very odd. shaking hands at the end. You could feel it from both sides. Emotionless.
“Australia retained the Ashes and we couldn’t win it back but it was very bizarre. It’s two teams of professional athletes – they want to be out there doing what we do. It was a pretty flat feeling but we’ve got rid of those emotions and we’re ready for this week.”
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