The Ashes 2025-26: Ben Stokes must ‘respect’ former players, says Michael Vaughan

England are seeking their first victory on Australian soil since 2010-11, with many believing Stokes’ side have the best chance of success since that trip.

Former England assistant Paul Farbrace dismissed the idea Stokes was being “disrespectful” and said his words were a message to his squad to block out the outside noise.

“All Ben Stokes is saying, forget the noise, forget everything that is going on,” Farbrace told BBC Sport.

“It doesn’t matter if it is an English great or an Australian great, let them have their say, it doesn’t really matter.

“Ben isn’t being disrespectful.

“He is very respectful of all of the greats that have gone before. Don’t worry about the way Ben has said it.”

Farbrace was part of the management for the 2017-18 tour when England played four warm-up matches against local sides and lost the Test series 4-0.

He said the hierarchy reflected afterwards that they would have been better served with a build-up similar to the one scheduled this year.

He added: “Don’t be kidded by thinking this England team aren’t prepared.

“I get the former players’ thoughts but let’s get behind our team.

“Let’s do something that is typically un-English and support our team rather than giving them a kicking before the series has even started.”

Former captain David Gower, a team-mate of Botham and Gooch, was part of England’s victorious 1986-87 tour – their only other win in Australia since the 1970s.

“I hate to say it, somewhere in between is the right solution,” Gower told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“I wouldn’t advocate you play three whole games. Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn’t.

“These days they don’t worry about it in the same way, back themselves somehow to say ‘tomorrow is a Test match put the on-switch up and all of the burners on’.

“The whole thing is about peaking at that moment.

“Inevitably it will work for some and not others. As long as seven or eight out of the 11 are somewhere near a peak you have got a chance.”