Ben Stokes defends first innings declaration call after losing Edgbaston test to Australia

Ben Stokes and his men suffered a close 2-wicket loss against Australia in first test of Ashes 2023.

England and Australia produced one of the thrilling test matches of all time during the first Ashes test match in Birmingham. In the end, the visitors, Australia pulled off an incredible win over Ben Stokes and his men to take 1-0 lead in the five-match series. The game went to both sides and Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon added an unbeaten 55 runs partnership for the ninth wicket to seal the deal for Australia.

England had their moments during the match and they took Australia's 8 wickets for 227 runs with another 54 runs in the bank. But few half-chances in the end cost them the game. Some people believe that Stokes' decision of declaring the first innings on Day 1 was one of the prime reason that England suffered a loss in the first game. However, the English captain defended his decision and said he would change his style of captaincy in the remaining games.

"I am not going to change the way I have gone"- Ben Stokes on his first-inning declaration

In an interaction on BBC's Test Match Special, former English captain Michael Vaughan said that Ben Stokes would never declare again if he would be in same situation in coming games, because those extra 30-40 runs had made a difference in the end. Stokes declared England's first inning at 393/8 in just 78 overs while Joe Root was unbeaten on 118 runs. The Australia skipper also said that he wasn't surprised but every run in the first inning was important.

However, Stokes had something else to say at the presentation and he backed his decision and said that it gave England the chance to produce such a thrilling moment on Day 5. He said, "If we were in the same position? Yeah. I would like to be 398 for 6 [sic] with 20 minutes left. That would be great. I could also turn it around and say, 'if we didn't declare, would we have got the excitement that we did at the end of day five? the reality is, we just didn't manage to get over the line. I am not going to change the way I have gone about my cricket because it is the Ashes."

Australia replied with a first innings score of 386. But England couldn't make it big in the second innings and got all out for 273, giving Australia the target of 281. Ben Stokes concluded and further said about his decision, "We saw it as an opportunity to pounce on Australia and really start day two on top."