Ben Stokes' clip from the Ashes 2023 documentary 'Our Take', where he was seen telling his teammates that the people who watch them play are really lucky and that they will forever be in the memories of these people after the drawn fourth Test in Ashes 2023 which was held at the Old Trafford in Manchester that also allowed Australia to retain the prestigious urn has been creating a lot of buzz in the cricketing world. Amidst this, former Aussie skipper Tim Paine also took a hit at the England's red-ball captain.
Ben Stokes' remark that created controversy
In the documentary, Ben Stokes was seen motivating his team as they failed to win the urn back following rain playing spoilsport and causing a wash out in the fourth Test. However, despite not being able to win the fourth Test England managed to bounce back from trailing behind 0-2 against Australia and draw the series 2-2 after great wins in the third and fifth Test.
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"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," Stokes was quoted as saying in the documentary ‘Ashes 2023 | Our Take.’
Tim Paine takes a shot at England team
Tim Paine acknowledged Stokes' sentiment behind his remark and said people took it out of context. However, he also slammed England's current standing in International cricket and called them a below average cricket team.
"I think it was taken slightly out of context because he was talking in a changing room and it was a bigger speech, so I will say that. However, it’s just this continued belief that they’re completely changing the game and they’re doing this amazing stuff and everyone’s going to remember it … they’re not." Paine said on the episode on SEN Tassie Breakfast.
"You’re coming dead last in the World Test Championship. You’re not going to be a team that everyone remembers watching and you’re not doing anything outrageously good that we haven’t seen before. You’re an average cricket team. You are, at the moment, a below-average cricket team and I think they need to get their head around that a little bit," he added.
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