Ben Stokes is confident that England will be motivated to give their best in Melbourne despite losing the series
Pat Cummins is ruled out of the 4th Test due to injury
Australia have an unassailable lead of 3-0 in the series
Ben Stokes is confident that England will be motivated to give their best in Melbourne despite losing the series
Pat Cummins is ruled out of the 4th Test due to injury
Australia have an unassailable lead of 3-0 in the series
Ben Stokes insists England have responded positively to seeing their hopes of winning the Ashes ended inside three Tests, ahead of the fourth match in Melbourne.
England's chances of capturing the urn for the first time since 2015 are already in tatters, after Australia took an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series within just 11 days of play.
Australia could now complete only the fourth 5-0 whitewash in Ashes history, having previously won every match in 1920-21, 2006-07 and 2013-14, each time on home soil.
The fourth Test, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, begins on Friday, with the pre-match build-up being dominated by talk of ill-discipline within the tourists' squad.
Earlier this week, England's managing director Rob Key confirmed there would be an investigation into the team's alcohol intake throughout the tour.
Brendon McCullum's position as head coach has also been called into question, but Stokes says everyone around the camp is focused solely on re-establishing some pride.
"Leaving Adelaide knowing we can no longer do that [win the Ashes] is obviously devastating," Stokes said in an interview with TNT Sports.
"But there's still two more games to play, and there's a lot to play for. Let’s make sure that everyone else is still very aware of that.
"Just because the series is over in terms of winning the Ashes, we've still got two more games to go out there and represent England.
"The emotion after that Adelaide game was heartbroken, devastated. Everyone was gutted, disappointed.
"It was quite pleasing to see those conversations about what we've still got coming, though. Although we can't win the series, we've still got two massive games to play.
"The tour isn't over, cricket isn't over. We're still going to walk out there and represent England, which is more than enough inspiration for anyone to get up for anything."
England have lost their last four Tests in a row, equalling their longest losing run in the format since a five-match stretch from November 2013 to January 2014, which came in the form of a 5-0 Ashes series loss in Australia.
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