After winning a thrilling third Test by three wickets on Sunday, England captain Ben Stokes claimed he has no faith his team can complete an incredible Ashes comeback.
At Headingley, England faltered to 171-6 when chasing 251 to win.
Before Chris Woakes (32 not out) and Mark Wood (16 not out) led Stokes’ team to victory, Harry Brook’s 75 put the hosts back in control.
Australia still holds a 2-1 advantage in the best-of-five series and needs one more victory to win the Ashes for the first time in England in 22 years.
Stokes is yet optimistic that England may follow the 1936–1937 Australia team that won the Ashes by coming back to win a Test series after falling behind 2-0.
“Yep. No hesitation,” said Stokes when asked if England can win the series.
“Another down to the wire game. It’s nice to get over the line in this one and keep our hopes alive.”
England came up just short in a run chase during the contentious second Test at Lord’s last week, and Stokes’ 155 was not enough.
However, he and the selectors may take pride in the three alterations they made to the lineup since they were successful.
In Australia’s second innings, Woakes and Wood shone both with the bat and the ball, while Moeen Ali secured crucial dismissals of Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith.
“It’s great when you make decisions like that and they have a big impact on the team,” added Stokes.
“We want people to come in and impact the game in their moment to put us in a commanding position and all three guys did that.”
The fourth Test of the series gets under way at Old Trafford in Manchester on 19 July.
