• Source:JND
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England skipper Ben Stokes is really happy with his side after winning the final Test by 49 runs on Monday and ending the five-match Ashes series on 2-2. The hosts were trailing by 0-2 in the series after the first two games but they came back strong in the remaining Tests of the series.

"The series as a whole, I think 2-2 is genuinely a fair reflection of two very, very good teams going at it over a five-match series. The cricket that's been on show has been of the highest quality. Being 2-0 down is a very hard task to come back from, so being sat here able to say that we've levelled the series, knowing we had to win the last three," Stokes said after the end of the fifth Test on Monday.

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"Coming here and playing the way we did, I couldn't be any more proud of the team in what they did. We continued everything in the style of play we have over the last 15 months and it's been everything I could have asked for minus getting the urn back," he added.

Stokes believes that England's performance in the series should have attracted new fans to the sport and also inspired a generation to pick up the sport.

"I think that over the last seven weeks, in particular, we've managed to drag a new audience towards Test cricket. I think this series is genuinely what Test cricket needed. Two high-quality teams going at it toe-to-toe and the cricket has been something you couldn't take your eyes off. Every session has been its own game. We've been in control, then Australia have been in control," he said.

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Stokes hopes that the 2023 Ashes will have a similar impact on youngsters across the nation as 2005 did to him. Stokes was 14 years old during the 2005 Ashes, which is widely regarded as the highly contested Test series.

"Everyone who's turned up to the games and bought a ticket has really enjoyed their days of cricket. That's all you can ask for as someone who pays money to come and watch an international sport. I really hope we've inspired a new generation. I look back to 2005 and what that series did for me as a young person, and I really hope there's someone who's the age I was then and says: 'That's what I want to be doing when I'm 21 or 22'," the all-rounder added.