Ashes 2025-26: ‘Effort shouldn’t be praised, it should be the standard’ - Anderson questions Stokes’ remarks

Former England cricketer James Anderson has admitted that he was puzzled by captain Ben Stokes praising the efforts of the players despite England’s shortcomings. Questions continue to be raised about the overall culture within the England cricket team following their 4-1 Ashes series defeat to Australia.

There was a clear gap in quality between the two sides, with England playing almost no warm-up matches in the build-up to the series. This led to criticism that the team lacked discipline and intensity between Tests. Anderson also cited the example of Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc, who was named Player of the Series after taking 31 wickets and scoring 163 runs, highlighting the contrast in preparation and performance between the two teams.

“When I saw Stokes come out and say, the way (Josh) Tongue and (Brydon) Carse have just run in like consistently, I had a Roy Keane moment. I was like, that’s your job. If you’re not willing to run in all day for your team, don’t bother. You’re in the wrong sport,” said Anderson on BBC Radio.

“Starc, for me, was the absolute standout of the series. He bowled on Day 5 of the final Test as quickly as he had bowled all series long. He was consistent with his speeds. But that is what you expect from all your bowlers. That is the standard. It always annoys me (when someone says) ‘can’t fault your efforts’. Well, the effort shouldn’t be a thing. It should just be in you,” he added.

Stokes said during the press conference after the fifth Test that England’s efforts in the Ashes could not be questioned and that the series was lost due to poor execution. England have not been able to win an Ashes series on Australian soil since the 2010-11 tour.

“We’ve dropped a lot of catches on this tour which have been very costly to the overall situation of the games. In terms of stepping up, I can never fault anyone’s commitment or energy that they’ve given into this. We haven’t performed well, we know that, we hold our hands up to that. But no one should question the care and commitment to try and go out there and give it your absolute best. It’s just been down to the lack of execution,” Stokes said.