The Ashes | Adelaide Test: Joe Root concedes too much expectations from 'superhero' Ben Stokes

England skipper Joe Root is asking his teammates to not get afraid after a big loss at the Gabba and instead is urging them to take some heart out of it as things can’t get much worse than what they faced on the first day of the first Ashes Test.

He said that there can’t be any excuse for the England side starting the second Test at the Adelaide Oval and they must pick themselves up to lift their game and England’s chances in the series.

“It’s not going to get any harder than that first day in Brisbane,” said Root. “Especially for guys who have not experienced what an Ashes series is like in Australia. We know it’s not going to get more difficult than that, so in that respect, there’s no excuses.”

England were also buoyant by the return of their “superman” in Ben Stokes, who could do no wrong in an Ashes series and Root conceded that he erred in putting too much pressure on his shoulders by unrealistic expectations. He said that the all-rounder has had a track record of producing magical performances every now and then and hence he got complacent in expecting super results off him despite his prolonged absence from the game leading up to the Ashes series.

“It was a huge ask and I’m probably guilty as much as anyone – I expected too much of him – because I see him almost as a bit of a superhero. Look at what he’s done in the last couple of years when he’s played: at least once a series, maybe twice a series, he’s done something extraordinary which has won you a game on its own.

“You do get a little complacent about expecting that. It’s easy to forget that on a big occasion like this, whether that be because he’s not played a huge amount and also what he’s gone through recently, I think there was a little bit too much on him.

“But you know the character he is, it’ll have motivated him even more now to put in one of those magical performances, whether that comes this week or further down the line.”