England Test captain Ben Stokes made a sensational declaration that his side “will live forever in the memory of people who were lucky enough to witness us play cricket”. Stokes made the claim during a post-match dressing room speech, which was shown by the ECB during a documentary about the 2023 Ashes series. The all-rounder’s remarks came after the 4th Test in last year’s was washed out due to rain in Manchester. The washout allowed Australia to retain the Ashes ‘Urn’, leaving the England players devastated.

After losing the first two Tests, England managed to make a comeback in the Ashes 2023, which ended 2-2. However, Australia were able to retain the Ashes despite that result.

“Everything we’ve done up until now isn’t going to stop because we haven’t managed to win the urn back. The reward for our work isn’t what we get but what we become. And what we have managed to do is we’ve managed to become a sports team that will live forever in the memory of people who were lucky enough to witness us play cricket. I know it’s going to be a bit flat, I know it’s going to hurt that we go into the next game (at The Oval) not being able to get the urn back. But what we have done is something a lot bigger than any Ashes trophy could ever signify for this team – be the team that everybody will always remember,” Stokes had said after the fourth Test was washed out, as shown by the ECB in the documentary titled ‘The Ashes 2023 | Our Take’.

Reacting to Stokes’ remarks, Fox Sports Australia shared the exact quotes to take a jibe at him, saying: “right, yeah, sure”.

However, Stokes was quick to retort as he claimed that his only intention was to motivate his teammates, and hinted that Australians are obsessed with England.

“Said this to the team who had watched it rain for 2 days when we had our foot on your throats, just tried to cheer up the disappointment tbh,but anyways rent free and all that,” Stokes responded on the post.

Said this to the team who had watched it rain for 2 days when we had our foot on your throats, just tried to cheer up the disappointment tbh,but anyways rent free and all that https://t.co/ULRZ4WITOq

— Ben Stokes (@benstokes38) July 3, 2024

For the record, England have not won an Ashes series since 2015, while there last Ashes Test win on Australian soil came back in 2009.