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“Travis Head going like a train…”: Ben Stokes 'shell shocked' by Australia after defeat

Aakash Saini

Travis Head and Ben Stokes [Source: @mufaddal_vohra/x]Travis Head and Ben Stokes [Source: @mufaddal_vohra/x]

England lost the first Test of the 2025-26 Ashes series by eight wickets on Day 2 at the Optus Stadium in Perth. In what was originally turning out to be a potential low-scoring thriller, Australian firebrand batter Travis Head doused all English hopes with a whirlwind century, whacking a record 69-ball hundred before racing to 123 off 83 balls.

Travis Head’s scintillating innings helped Australia make lightwork of their 205-run target to take a 1-0 lead in the series. England captain Ben Stokes, as one can expect, was left “shell shocked” by Australia’s approach as his team got beaten at their own game.

Ben Stokes takes an indirect dig at English batters

While speaking during the post-match presentation ceremony, England captain Ben Stokes admitted that he was left “shell shocked” by Australia’s blistering approach in the run-chase. The legendary all-rounder praised Travis Head for his century, and claimed that the left-hander’s rampage forced England players to alter their plans.

Ben Stokes said:

“Little bit shell shocked there. That innings from Travis Head was pretty phenomenal. It's quite raw and fresh at the moment but that was some knock. I think we tried 3 or 4 different plans against Head. He was going like a train and those plans can change quite quickly because those runs were coming down quickly. I've seen Travis plays a lot of knocks like that whether it be in Test cricket or white-ball cricket. He is very hard to stop.”

Ben Stokes also took an indirect dig at England batters for failing to come up clutch on the Optus Stadium surface. Assessing the pitch, the cricketer said that the pace-friendly Perth surface did assisted batters who employed attacking approach.

The England team, however, batted just 67.3 overs across both innings of the match, aggregating 172 and 164 respectively. He added:

“There certainly was a lot of assistance there when the bowlers put the ball in the right areas and the guys who were able to knock the bowlers off their length seemed to find success on that.”

Trailing 0-1 in the five-match Ashes 2025-26 series, the Ben Stokes-led England team will now face Australia in the second match from December 4 onwards in Brisbane.