The Ashes: England will comfortably win series if Ben Stokes plays every Test, says Mark Ramprakash

Stokes has been the focus of the hostilities from the Australian media since arriving in Perth, with one local paper describing him as “England’s Cocky Captain Complainer”.

Stokes and some other England players were also pictured on the golf course on Monday – an apparent attempt to question the side’s preparations.

Stokes’ county coach, Western Australian Ryan Campbell, criticised the headlines and questioned the logic in targeting Stokes before the series.

“I got a bit shirty about it,” Durham coach Campbell said. “I want WA to put on a good show. I don’t want that stuff.

“Everyone wants to say something smart. A lot of it you have to take with a pinch of salt.

“There is two blokes I wouldn’t have a crack at – that is Ben Stokes and Joe Root.

“They are the calmest and take it on board to give back in spades. Pick your targets a bit better.”

Stokes has already produced a number of famous Ashes moments, starting with a century in his second Test against Australia in Perth during the 2013-14 tour.

The most famous was his extraordinary match-winning century at Headingley in 2019 and spinner Jack Leach – his final batting partner that day – said he was inspired by Australia’s aggression during that knock.

“[David] Warner had been going at him,” Leach said.

“He said [at the end of day three] ‘I am not walking off that pitch until we have won the game’ and was really fired up. Obviously he ended up doing it.”

Leach added: “[Root] does it in a quieter way. He is, deep down, pretty motivated for this.

“There has been a lot of chat about him never scoring a hundred in Australia so he is going in with a lot to prove.”