Ben Stokes content with own fitness, oozing positivity on eve of Ashes series

A confidentBen Stokes believes is ready to stand up to scrutiny in the most storied Ashes test series against Australia About the teamrsquos attacking mindset which he insists is ingrained in his players now and is not for changing under his leadershipAnd about bringing Moeen Ali out of test retirement one of Stokesrsquo biggest decisions in his short tenureFacing reporters wearing a bucket hat Stokes was calmness personified while many in cricket are getting caught up in the excitement of what is likely to be an explosive few weeks between two longtime rivals starting with the first test at Edgbaston from FridayEngland Stokes said was ready for Australia with its ldquoBazballrdquo approach mdash whether it proves successful this summer or notldquoWe have found a style and a way in which we want to play our cricket that has been very successful and regardless of the opponent thatrsquos what we are going to stick tordquo Stokes saidldquoObviously conditions can dictate how you can do that but we will always try to adapt to the conditions and still have that positive mode which is to go out and have as much fun as we can and always look to put pressure on the opposition regardless of who it is Not facing the man but facing the ballrdquoPart of Stokesrsquo general optimism must be the improvement in his own health which has been of major concern after his knee issues during the tour of New Zealand in February and the fact he played only twice for Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League mdash sending down just one over for 18 runsStokes mdash with strapping around his left knee mdash has been seen bowling at full steam over the past week including on a squad trip to St Andrews in Scotland last week and said the buildup to the Ashes has been ldquoreally good for my confidencerdquoldquoI have bowled every day so far and been able to run in with more intensity day by dayrdquo the allrounder said ldquoI have got myself in a real good place to be able to bowl But bowling coach David Saker has obviously come in and he mentioned something to me last week when we were in Scotland He said if you are still bowling by the fourth and fifth test we have done something rightrdquoAlso Read Ashes Series Three key factors that will define outcome of England vs AustraliaAsked if he might choose to play at 8037 to last the series Stokes said with a smile ldquoI think Irsquoll give 10037 of what Irsquove got all the timerdquoThat is Stokes all over He lives for the moment including with his emotions and feelingsLike his selection of Ali who has been retired from test cricket for nearly two years but is back as a spin option as the emergency replacement for the injured Jack LeachAli might be someone Australiarsquos batters want to take on this series though Stokes as ever looked for the positivesldquoHe is a player who can produce unbelievable matchwinning performances albeit a long time ago in tests and it was something I couldnrsquot look past That was a stomach and a heart feeling rather than my brain Irsquove generally stuck with my gut and my heart throughout my whole captaincy so far Moeen Ali is going to come in here and Irsquom looking at what he can offer to this team on his best days and not worrying about anything elserdquo Stokes saidThat optimistic attitude sums up Stokesrsquo relationship with his teammates which he has attempted to retain despite now being in charge of themldquoOne of the most important things for me being captain was to still be able to have the same trust for making big decisions as captain and just making the guys in the dressing room believe that they are incredible players rather than anything else and making them believe in themselves more than they probably did beforeldquoThat was the biggest thing I wanted to do mdash keep that trust factor between the relationship we had before but also make them believe they were better than they originally thought Hopefully I have done thatrdquoIt seems to be working with the English having won 12 of their 17 tests under Stokes having won just one of its previous 17 They havenrsquot lost a series under the StokesBrendon McCullum axisAustralia the newly crowned world test champion is about to put that record to the test and seek to keep the urnldquoAs soon as one Ashes series finishes yoursquore already looking forward to the nextrdquo Australia captain Pat Cummins said on ThursdayldquoItrsquos exciting This one in particular seems like it has got a little bit more on it The whole cricketing world stops for a month and puts their attention on this series Luckily wersquore in the middle of itrdquoAustralia will announce its team at the toss England named its lineup on WednesdayWith AP inputs