Ben Stokes Has Nothing but Respect for Steve Smith Ahead of Ashes: “He Just Gets Runs Against Us, Doesn’t He?”

Ben Stokes' England team comes off a 2-2 home Test series draw vs. India, while Australia secured a dominant 3-0 series victory over West Indies.

Ben Stokes Has Nothing but Respect for Steve Smith Ahead of Ashes: “He Just Gets Runs Against Us, Doesn’t He?”

Ben Stokes lauded Australian icon Steve Smith, ahead of Ashes opener in Perth. (via News 18)

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England captain Ben Stokes showed admiration for Australian counterpart Steve Smith, ahead of the opening Test match of the 2025-26 Ashes in Perth. Stokes referred to Smith as one of the ‘greatest batters of the generation’, while comparing him to teammate Joe Root. 

The two arch-rivals will be facing each other for the 74th time in a bilateral Test series. For the visiting England side, they will be hoping to get a Test win on Australian soil for the first time since the 2010-11 Ashes. Meanwhile, for the home side, they will seek to retain the ‘Urn’ for the fifth-straight time, after having last won it in the 2021-22 season. Australia retained the title in 2023-24, after a 2-2 draw. 

Australia will be led by their long-standing batting icon Steve Smith, with Pat Cummins out injured. On the eve of the opening Test in Perth, England captain Ben Stokes opened up about the daunting challenge that his team faces against the world no.1-ranked Test side. The 34-year-old talked about Steve Smith, noting that not much has changed about the Aussie batter, given he constantly scores runs with the same intensity against the Three Lions. 

Stokes further suggested that the 36-year-old has been a serious player for a long time. The England Test captain also likened Smith to teammate Joe Root, referring to the two as the greatest batsmen of the era. Stokes added that his team would have to figure out ways to keep the best Australian batters quiet, which would ultimately helping his team achieve the goal of being only the sixth English squad to win an Ashes in Australia, after the second World War.

Not too much has changed because he [Steve Smith] just gets runs against us, doesn’t he? That seems to be a constant, a serious player, has been for a very long time.

Steve Smith’s numbers against England present a dominant picture. He has scored 3,417 runs against the Three Lions, with more than 2,300 of those runs coming away from home, at a remarkable average of 56.01, including 12 hundreds and 13 fifties. The 36-year-old is also the third-highest run-getter in the Ashes, way ahead of Joe Root’s tally of just 2,428 runs in 65 innings at an average of 40.46.

Him [Steve Smith] and Joe Root, neck-and-neck in my opinion in terms of the greatest batters of this generation.

However, Root’s recent form, after he became the all-time second-highest run-getter in Test cricket history, underscores his brilliance. The match-up between the two batting greats will be an interesting one to see at the 2025-26 Ashes. 

Why will England red-ball skipper Ben Stokes not be a part of the 2026 IPL mini-auction?

The 2026 IPL mini-auction is just round the corner, with the ten franchises ready to spend big on acquiring the best T20 talents from around the world. Among the notable absentees, England red-ball captain Ben Stokes will miss out on a place in the players’ pool at the auction. 

Ben Stokes IPL
Ben Stokes is ineligible to play in IPL 2026. (via Inside Sport)

One of the finest all-rounders of the era, Ben Stokes has been in and out of the IPL, since he first made his debut in the competition in 2017, for Rising Pune Supergiant. He finished as the Most Valuable Player in his first IPL season, with impressive numbers of 316 runs and 12 wickets. However, he could not replicate this success with his following seasons with Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings, after that.

Stokes has not played in the IPL since 2021, and the BCCI’s new regulations about the participation of foreign players even keeps him out of the 2026 players’ pool. An overseas player would have to register himself for the mega-auction, or he would automatically be ineligible to be a part of the mini auctions that will follow. Since Stokes did not register for the 2025 Mega Auction, he is ineligible for 2026.

Apart from Ben Stokes, a host of other overseas stars face a similar fate. Stokes’ teammate Harry Brook, who withdrew from IPL 2025 due to national team commitments after being picked up by Delhi Capitals from INR 6.25 crores, also faces a two-year ban.

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