England captain Ben Stokes admitted they could have played better after suffering a 4-1 Ashes series loss against Australia. The home team registered a five-wicket win at Sydney Cricket Ground on Thursday as they chased down a modest target of 160.

Stokes also gave credit to Australia and said the hosts bowled better than them throughout the series. England could not seal the crucial stages in the series and had to pay the price as Australia were able to assert their dominance. On day four of the fifth Test, England were 219-3 but two quick wickets of Harry Brook and Will Jacks put them on the backfoot.

“It was a great game to get involved in, Test matches which go to the fifth day always add up drama. If we had got around 200 on the bothatard, it would have been a different story. Australia is a great team, they play incredible cricket, they have some outstanding bowlers so we have to give them a lot of credit,” Stokes said in the post-match presentation.

England’s next Test assignment comes only in June, against New Zealand and thus have time to improve on the areas they are lacking.

“We could have played much better than what we did. We have a long time before we play our next series, so we have a lot of time to reflect, so hopefully we can put the wrongs to right,” Stokes added.

Stokes gave his heart and soul throughout the Ashes but he failed to deliver with the bat. The left-hander could only manage 184 runs in five Test matches at an average of 18.40. After this Ashes loss, there have been questions raised on Stokes’ leadership.