Stokes laughs off Australia's attempts to rattle him George Dobell

Revenge for the pain of previous defeats is the motivating force for Ben Stokes in the Investec Ashes and helped focus his mind in the face of Australian provocation during the first Test in Cardiff.

He was a member of the side thrashed 5-0 in Australia in 2013-14 and admitted that the memories of that experience were fresh in his mind as England closed in on victory during the opening Test.

But Stokes knows that, if he is to enjoy consistent success in the series, he will have to retain his composure despite Australia's aims to get under his skin. He joked before the series started that it sounded like "all I want to do is fight them" when pressed on his combative attitude, so while he dismissed an attempt to unsettle him while batting as "silly" he understands it is part of a tactic to disrupt his concentration.

In the incident, David Warner and Nathan Lyon stood in the crease at the non-strikers' end staging a mock conversation in an attempt to prevent Stokes from completing an idiosyncratic ritual - sweeping his bat on the ground - that he does at the end of each over.

"Brad Haddin picked up on me sweeping my bat when we were in Australia. He said 'you're still doing that then?' and I said 'yeah.' It's something I've done over the last two or three years. Every batsman probably has something they like to do and that's mine.

"Then Lyon and Warner thought it would be funny to stand in my way. That was pretty silly I thought really. Joe Root said that if they're trying to do that, they must be thinking we're on top. So if they're going to do that for the rest of the series then fair enough.

"I guess they were trying to put me off, but it just did not work. I just said you can stand there all day because I'm not moving until you move. If you want to get your captain's over rate down then so be it."

But more than Australia's attempts to unsettle him, it was the feeling Stokes had as England closed in on victory that most resonated.

Even though he emerged from the whitewash 18 months ago as a rare beacon of hope for England, when speaking before this current series began he said he still did not have many fond memories of it because of the result so was desperate to put the record straight.

"Revenge is a massive motivation," he said. "When Joe Root caught the catch at the end it was like revenge. When they were eight wickets down I was thinking about how we felt when we were getting beat every game. To be on the verge of winning when they were eight wickets down and after what they did to us in Australia was pretty cool."

Stokes pinpointed the first ODI of the series against New Zealand as the moment the belief flooded into the England squad. While he admitted they had talked about playing with positivity for a couple of years, it was only the ability to actually score 400 in an ODI that cemented the self-confidence within the side.

"Over the last two years, we've always been saying that we will play aggressively, but Cardiff was probably the only time we've actually delivered on what we've said. It always helps when results go your way. But we know we're going to win more than we lose if we keep playing in this manner.

"Edgbaston started it all off. That game went really well - we got 400 and bowled them out for 100-and-whatever-it-was. So when you can win so convincingly, that can only do us a world of good.

"We've just rolled on from that. The momentum we had built up throughout the summer was carried over to Cardiff. We were full of confidence going into that because we knew how successful we had been.

Stokes made an early mark in his Test career with that outstanding hundred against Australia in Perth, but after missing the series against Sri Lanka last year, partly due to the broken hand he sustained in West Indies from punching a locker, he found himself back in the side against India batting at No. 8 and seemingly more designated as a main seamer.

He bagged three consecutive ducks in two Tests against India before being dropped and is now grateful for a more stable position in the Test side where he feels he is learning his role.

On his return against West Indies in April he made 79 at No. 6 in Antigua but was then shunted down a place again when Moeen Ali returned for the remaining two matches of that series.

However, the England hierarchy have now settled on his position and he responded with scores of 52 and 42 in Cardiff to follow his thrilling century against New Zealand at Lord's in May.

"Personally I think I'm benefitting from having a more consistent role in the team," he said. "When I first started, I was in a bit of limbo about where I was. I played in a few different positions that I wasn't quite familiar with.

"But now I have been given the chance at the beginning of the summer to bat six and be that fourth seamer, which is something I wanted to be for England. Now I've been given that chance.

"The positive style probably brings the best out of all of us. We're always trying to take the positive route and always trying to be on top."

"We're not going to be able to play how we want 100 percent of the time. But that doesn't mean we'll go back to square one and start just trying to survive."