Stokes urges England to 'create history' in quest for rare away Ashes win

Ben Stokes has challenged his side to "create our own history" as England begin their bid for a first Ashes series win in Australia since 2010-11. Only five England teams have returned with the urn since World War II, and just two in the past 40 years. Stokes, who has been at the heart of several iconic Ashes moments, knows the scale of the challenge but believes this group can walk back from Australia with the famous prize.

"Look, coming to Australia, playing against Australia, they're a seriously good team and everyone, including myself, including the team, and all you guys know that the record of England over the history of Ashes series in Australia isn't the best. But we've got an opportunity here over the next two and a half months to write our own history," the England captain said on the eve of the series opener in Perth.

"We've obviously come here with the goal and that goal is to get on that plane mid-January, returning to England, being Ashes winners. But we know it's going to be very, very tough. It's going to be hard because beating Australia in Australia is not an easy thing."

This tour feels different already, not least because England's 'Bazballers' have been building up to this series for a good part of the last three years but they will finally have a sizeable travelling presence again. Covid restrictions kept the England supporters away during the 2021-22 Ashes, but thousands have made the trip this time.

"It's been a big build-up, as always, every Ashes series is, whether it's in England or Australia. It's great, something that, when you're a kid, you look at and go, I'd love to be there one day," Stokes said.

"There's no doubt that we as players know how excited everyone is for the series. We know we've got quite a few English fans coming over. The Barmy Army, they go everywhere we go, but we know we've got a lot of people coming down here to support us. So, definitely over the last couple of days, even when we've got your time off and we try and get out and about, there's a lot of English people here. So, yeah, really looking forward to what kind of reception we're going to get tomorrow."

The visitors, who have not won a Test in Australia since that historic series win under Andrew Strauss in 2010-11, sense an opportunity to begin strong in Perth with Australia missing two of their pace stalwarts in Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood. Stokes and Brendon McCullum are weighing up an all-pace attack (leaving out Shoaib Bashir) with Mark Wood cleared to play despite minor injury concerns during the warm-up game against the Lions in Lilac Hill restricted him to just eight overs.

"Well, he's [Mark Wood] flying. Look, he's had all his injury troubles and all that kind of stuff. He had his knee surgery after the Champions Trophy. I know you guys say he's only bowled eight overs in the game, but he's been bowling for a long, long time. He has always been someone who can just hit the ground running in a game. And he's bowling rapid, which is good," Stokes said.

Stokes himself is returning to full all-rounder duties after recovering from the shoulder injury that sidelined him for England's last Test, against India at The Oval. His availability across both disciplines is central to England's balance. "I've come into the series fully taking on that all-rounder role with bat and ball," he said. "I've worked very, very hard to make sure when I am playing I'm able to give that full commitment to that role."

"I want to eke everything out of this body I can and I will do that in an England shirt."