England captain Ben Stokes ready to get EVEN funkier in fourth Ashes Test against Australia… with hosts needing a win at Old Trafford

Ben Stokes has said England may go for broke as they look to overcome a poor forecast in Manchester and square an Ashes series he believes is shaping up as the best ever.

His side go into Wednesday’s fourth Test against Australia 2-1 down, knowing only victory will keep alive their hopes of winning the urn for the first time since 2015.

And with rain threatening to close in at the weekend, Stokes said England might have to force a repeat of their win over South Africa at The Oval last summer, when victory came in 151.3 overs – the equivalent of barely five sessions – after the first day was washed out and the second abandoned because of the death of the Queen.

‘With the weather that’s predicted, it might bring more out of us, knowing we might have to push the game on even more than we normally do,’ he said. ‘We always try to be creative, but the way we play will force the game anyway.

‘These sort of situations make everything we’ve been doing more relevant. If we were to shy away from the task at hand, that wouldn’t get my best out of us as a team in terms of the personnel we have. Knowing we need to win this one probably suits us even more. We know we can do it if we play pretty much the perfect game.’

England brought back the series to 2-1 after a nailbiting victory at Headingley last time out

Australia’s captain Pat Cummins is keen to avoid any prospect of repeat of the 2019 Ashes

And Stokes said Australia could get into difficulty if they start playing for the draw that would be enough to secure the Ashes for the second Old Trafford Test in succession.

‘I don’t know if that’s how they’ll play this game,’ he said. ‘Sometimes, when you think like that, you can actually come off worse. But yeah, we do know they just need a draw to retain the Ashes.’

Australia’s captain Pat Cummins insisted, however, that his side want a victory this week to avoid any prospect of repeat of the 2019 Ashes, when England squared the series with victory in the last Test at The Oval.

‘The first preference is always to try to win,’ he said. ‘We drew the 2019 series and we’ve all come back pretty clear we want to win this one. As the game progresses you maybe start working out how risky you want to be.’

Asked if he expected England to adopt unusual tactics in their bid to beat both Australia and the weather, he replied: ‘Hope so, it would be fun. We’re prepared for anything, really.’

Stokes, meanwhile, said he had never experienced as many people approaching him and his players to tell them they have got into cricket for the first time because of the events of this summer. And he admitted a 2-2 scoreline going to the final Test next week would be ‘amazing’ for the game in this country.

‘If that does happen and we do go to The Oval all square, we’ll be challenging ’05 for one of the best series in England,’ he said.