Former England spin bowler Monty Panesar has praised Ben Stokes’s mental toughness after his side forced a consolation Ashes win in Melbourne – their first Test victory in Australia for 15 years.
Panesar, who played 50 Test matches for England between March 2006 and December 2013, told Sky News it had been a “very tough week” for Ben Stokes and his leadership after the team’s off-the-pitch struggles came under the spotlight.
The match build-up was dominated by reports of excessive drinking among the England ranks, and the team was up against it, heading into the match 3-0 down, having lost the series within 11 days.
Panesar, who took 167 Test wickets for England at an average of just under 35, described Stokes as appearing like a “tired, broken man” during last week’s post-match press conference, but praised the England captain for taking the prospect of a 5-0 whitewash off the table, and pulling out a four-wicket win in a “defining moment for him as a leader”.
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“They came into Melbourne under a huge amount of pressure,” said Panesar, adding that they had in the end given the Barmy Army “something to cheer about after Christmas”.
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The win was Stokes’s first in 14 attempts in Australia, leaving the Aussies with a 3-1 lead with just one match remaining.
England last won in Australia in January 2011, losing 16 times and drawing twice across four tours during that time, before finally ending the sequence in Melbourne.
