Ben Stokes questions his side's mentality after 2nd Test loss at the Gabba
England go 2-0 down in the Ashes and have a mountain to climb now
Check Ben Stokes' full reaction
England captain Ben Stokes questioned his side's mentality after they fell 2-0 behind in the Ashes series, insisting "Australia is not for weak men".
The Baggy Greens cruised to an eight-wicket victory with a day to spare in the second Test at the Gabba, meaning they only require a draw from the final three Tests to retain the urn.
England showed some fight on Sunday, with Stokes notching a half-century to keep their faint hopes alive during a 96-run partnership with Will Jacks, though it proved academic.
The tourists were bowled out for 241, with Australia subsequently taking just 10 overs to reach their target of 65.
"They are all incredibly talented players, but if you can't put it down to a skill thing, you start to wonder what is it?" Stokes said.
"Do we need to start thinking about what mentality we are taking into those pressure moments?
"When we are on top, we are great and, when behind in the game, we are also very good. But when that moment is neck and neck, we are not coming out on top on enough occasions."
"There is a saying that we have said a lot here: Australia is not for weak men. A dressing room that I am captain of is not a place for weak men either. We need to dig deep, I need to dig deep."
England coach Brendon McCullum, meanwhile, jumped to the tourists' defence, suggesting they "trained too much" ahead of their defeat.
"We have to make sure to stay tight as a group and iron out a couple of the chinks that we have shown in the last two Test matches," he said.
"When you come to Australia, you can't be below your best. You need to make sure you seize every opportunity.
"In this Test match, there were a few moments we had the ascendancy with the bat, and we let that slip. And there were times when we didn't execute with the ball as well as we should have.
"Clearly, our catching was an issue as well. [It is] very hard to beat Australia at home if you're going to be deficient in all those three areas.
"We had five intense training sessions leading into this game. Sometimes, there is a tendency to overdo things to make up for it. If anything, we trained too much. As we all know in this game, it is played in the top two inches."
