Call us rubbish, arrogant is too far - Stokes

Captain Ben Stokes said he can accept criticism of his England team but believes allegations of arrogance are "too far".

England have come under heavy scrutiny for the manner and response to their crushing defeat by Australia in the first Ashes Test.

The tourists threw away a dominant position to lose inside two days in Perth, then opted not to send any of the XI from the first Test to play in an England Lions match against the Prime Minister's XI in Canberra.

Former Australia pace bowler Mitchell Johnson called England "arrogant" and "cocky Poms" who are at risk of "serious embarrassment".

Stokes told BBC Sport: "You can call us rubbish, call us whatever you want. We didn't have the Test match that we wanted to.

"Arrogant might be a little bit too far, but that's OK. We'll take the rough with the smooth. I'd rather words like 'rubbish', but 'arrogant', I'm not so sure about that."

Stokes was speaking as England began five days of training in Brisbane in the run-up to the second Test - a day-nighter at the Gabba which begins on Thursday, 4 December.

England's session at Allan Border Field on Saturday morning was curtailed by rain.

Three players from the Ashes squad who did not play in Perth – Jacob Bethell, Josh Tongue and Matthew Potts – have joined the Lions for their two-day pink-ball match in the capital.

Of the remaining 13 in Brisbane, only Mark Wood was not present for the optional session on Saturday as the fast bowler rested the left knee upon which he had surgery earlier this year.

Stokes was talking in public for the first time since the aftermath of the defeat at Perth Stadium.

The all-rounder admitted he accepts the debate around England's stance on the Canberra fixture, said his team need to "learn" from the first Test, and he understands the disappointment of supporters following the performance in Perth.

England were not scheduled to play in Canberra, but the swift conclusion to the first Test raised the prospect of more time in the middle and experience with the pink ball.

The tourists opted against sending the first-Test XI to the capital in the desire to keep the team together for reasons of morale. There was also a feeling a slow, low pitch in mild Canberra would not provide useful conditions in which to prepare for the heat of Brisbane and pace of the Gabba.

Former captain Michael Vaughan and BBC chief cricket commentator Jonathan Agnew were among those to question England's decision, while Stokes' team received support from two other ex-England skippers, Michael Atherton and Alec Stewart.

"I do understand it," said Stokes. "We have a pink-ball match coming up in Brisbane, and we have an opportunity to play some pink-ball cricket.

"But there's obviously a lot more to it than just that. You take all the factors into consideration, the pros and cons, whatever it may be. We then discuss that and decide what we think is the best preparation.

"We have a few more days off than we planned after that Test. We had to go away and ask how we use these next few days wisely in order to be prepared for what it will be like in Brisbane."

England had given themselves an outstanding opportunity after four sessions of the first Test. At 65-1 in their second innings, the visitors had a lead of 105 runs.

But England lost their last nine wickets for 99 runs, including a calamitous spell of 3-0 when all of Ollie Pope, Harry Brook and Joe Root were dismissed driving at the ball.

The collapse has led to more questions of England's attacking style. Though Stokes pointed to the aggression of Australia's Travis Head, who made the second-fastest century in Ashes history to lead the home side to victory, the England skipper accepted his team could have been "a lot better".

"The important thing we need to do as a team and individuals is learn from it," said Stokes. "We have identified those moments and spoken about them as a group.

"In terms of execution, could we have been better at executing what we want to do? Definitely.

"Sometimes when you go out there and make a decision, it doesn't always pay off, or work the way you want it to. That's the key for the rest of this tour, staying true to the beliefs of how we play our cricket, but also we do know we could have been a lot better in certain ways."

England had won only one of their 17 previous Tests when Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum took over the in 2022.

The upturn in results and breathtaking style of cricket rebuilt a connection with supporters, a connection that has been tested in the past week. Many of those travelling to Perth spent vast sums of money, only to see England beaten in the first two-day Ashes Test for 104 years.

"We know that there'll be a lot of disappointed fans after that first defeat," said Stokes. But it's a five-game series, we've got four games to go.

"We've lost the first one - we're absolutely desperate to come home with that goal from before we started the series, which is to win the Ashes, and doing absolutely everything within our powers and using our time best to allow us to go out there and try and achieve that goal."