India, Dec. 8 -- Ben Stokes has delivered one of the bluntest self-assessments of his captaincy era yet, admitting that England are simply failing when the pressure is at its highest against Australia. Speaking to TNT Sports after the latest defeat, Stokes cut through all the usual noise and went straight to the heart of the problem: mentality.

"When the game is on the line, teams are able to handle that pressure better than us," Stokes said after the loss.

"We are a great team when we are ahead, when we are behind and playing huge catch-up, we are great, but when the game is on the line, we are not able to stand up to pressure. That is obvious as a captain. It's a mentality, a mindset. How you get yourself into a headspace to make clea...