BRISBANE: England captain Ben Stokes has pushed back against suggestions that his side carried an air of arrogance during the first Ashes Test against Australia in Perth, insisting that saying this was ‘a little bit too far’.

A bruising two-day defeat in the opening Ashes Test in Perth last week has put England under huge criticism for a variety of reasons: their pre-series build-up, reckless batting choices and the contentious call to rest first-choice players from this weekend’s pink-ball warm-up game in Canberra.

Add to it, former Australia fast bowler Mitchell Johnson also described England as ‘arrogant’. “Look, you can call us rubbish, call us whatever you want. We didn’t have the Test match that we wanted to.”