'England have to smarten up a bit and be ruthless', says Nasser Hussain

LONDON:Former captain Nasser Hussain said that in order to stage a comeback in the ongoing Ashes series, England must demonstrate increased strategic sharpness and a greater level of ruthlessness.

England slumped to their second defeat in the ongoing Ashes after suffering a 43-run loss despite captain Ben Stokes' stunning 155-run in the second Test at Lord's on Sunday and fell 0-2 in the five-match series.

It took a monumental bowling effort from Australia, without Nathan Lyon, to stop a rampaging Stokes in a riveting day of Test match cricket at Lord's on day five.

Hussain said that England could draw inspiration from Stokes's approach and adopt a ruthless mentality in their gameplay.

"I think England can continue on the road they have been going on, but smarten up a bit and be ruthless. Some of the batting when they were 188-1, be a bit more ruthless. Stokes was ruthless in both innings," Hussain was quoted as saying on Sky Cricket.

Earlier, Stokes expressed that England's intention is to entertain the cricket world, however, Hussain emphasized the significance of achieving favorable results.

"I think England have believed the hype a little bit and gone away from what made them successful. This is a little wake-up call. I've heard 'results aren't important, we are here to entertain' but results are important," he added.

England will look to avenge their losses with the third Test of the series set to get underway on July 7 at Headingley in Leeds.