England Test captain Ben Stokes has declared his side “will live forever in the memory of people who were lucky enough to witness us play cricket”.

The bizarre claim was shown during a documentary about the 2023 Ashes series, released by the ECB this past week.

The documentary has already sparked headlines by revealing several English players’ true thoughts on the infamous Jonny Bairstow stumping, with Joe Root admitting the Aussies’ actions were fair and that he would have likely done the same in their situation.

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But now a clip from after the fourth Test in Manchester, which was rained out and ensured Australia would retain the urn, has surfaced.

In the Old Trafford dressing rooms Stokes spoke to his team in an attempt to motivate them.

“Everything we’ve done up until now isn’t going to stop because we haven’t managed to win the urn back,” Stokes declared.

“The reward for our work isn’t what we get but what we become.

“And what we have managed to do is we’ve managed to become a sports team that will live forever in the memory of people who were lucky enough to witness us play cricket.

“I know it’s going to be a bit flat, I know it’s going to hurt that we go into the next game (at The Oval) not being able to get the urn back.

“But what we have done is something a lot bigger than any Ashes trophy could ever signify for this team – be the team that everybody will always remember.”

England has not won an Ashes series since 2015 nor won an Ashes Test match in Australia in 15 years.

Under Stokes’ leadership, the English Test side has won four of its 11 Tests played since the start of 2023.

In the same period Australia won the ICC World Test Championship, retained the Ashes in England and then won the World Cup.