en Stokes has challenged his aspect to to set-up an Ashes sequence decider to rival 2005, however hopes the cricket “craze” impressed by this summer season’s sequence is not going to fade ought to England fail to win again the Urn.

The most hyped Ashes sequence because the 2005 traditional has thus far lived as much as the billing with all three Tests taking place to the wire. Two of these have gone Australia’s manner, nevertheless, that means England should win the 2 remaining contests to finish a comeback from 2-0 all the way down to win the sequence 3-2.

England took a 2-1 result in the Fifth Test on the Oval in 2005, the place a rain-affected draw noticed the house aspect full a well-known sequence win. Victory for Stokes’s males in Manchester this week, nevertheless, would ship the 2 groups to London locked at 2-2 and arguably tee up a fair grander finale.

“It would be amazing,” Stokes mentioned. “We’re focusing more on winning this game and going to the Oval 2-2 but then if we take a step back, that last game would be everywhere, it would be great to be part of.

“If that does happen and we do go to the Oval, we’ll be challenging 2005 for one of the best series in England.”

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The nation has been captivated by three gripping Test matches and England’s aggressive type of play applied underneath Stokes and Brendon McCullum over the course of the final 12 months.

Captaincies are usually outlined, nevertheless, by Ashes failure or success however Stokes is hopeful that the broader impression of his aspect’s performances would survive an Australian victory.

“I think it’s quite similar to 2019, with the World Cup and the Ashes going on in the same year, obviously it was a very similar feel,” Stokes added. “This year, there have been more people who have actually come up and said they hadn’t had much interest in cricket until this summer, or from last summer.

“This year I think we have captured the imagination of a few more people, whereas 2019 felt like we were getting a lot of cricket fans coming up to us and saying well done. Now, it’s more people who don’t even like cricket.

“I hope this craze around cricket doesn’t get lost if things don’t go the way in this Ashes. There’s plenty of Test matches still to be played after the series is finished and we won’t be changing our ideas or ethos while Baz is still leading the team.”