Ben Stokes says he wants to go on as England captain and has endorsed coach Brendon McCullum to continue despite England getting drubbed 1-4 by Australia in the recent Ashes 2025-26 series.
At the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Thursday, England lost the fifth and final Test of a very poor series, and the defeat won't stop criticism of the team's campaign strategy.
Critics have specifically criticized the high-risk "Bazball" style of play and raised concerns about the tour's level of preparation, which led to England's rapid 3-0 disadvantage.
Stokes, 34, said he wanted to remain skipper for the upcoming home Test series against New Zealand and Pakistan.
“(I’m) definitely keen as anything to carry on. I love having a challenge thrown at me, and at the moment the challenge is getting the team back to where we once were in terms of the performances that we were delivering,” Stokes told reporters, as per Reuters.
When asked about McCullum's future with England, Stokes said he anticipated him to stay on as head coach and fully supported the New Zealander, whose contract expires after the 2027 home series against the Australians.
“I do expect him to be (in charge), but again, it’s not my decision. I’m sure if it ever ... comes to it, I’ll be asked my opinion, and he’ll be getting my full support and backing. I absolutely love working with Baz. He’s a great man, and he’s a very, very good coach. You know there’s more that goes on behind the scenes than he’ll ever give away or than he’ll ever let out,” Stokes added.
Critics, including former England captain Michael Vaughan, have stated that McCullum must recognize that his strategy has failed and agree to a new style for the side.
When queried about receiving such instructions from his ECB executives, the coach was hesitant to accept the idea.
“I am not against assistance, but I have a firm belief in how to get the best out of these players. I will look at it individually and say, ‘What could I have done better?’ Am I for being told what to do? Of course I am not. But at the same time, I’m not thinking there won’t be areas to improve,” McCullum told BBC.
Stokes appeared sympathetic to McCullum’s stance.
“Me and Brendon, we know how to run a dressing room, and we know how to try and give the lads the best possible chance of being as good as they can be. Everyone’s got an opinion on how things should be run and kind of stuff like that. So, it is always tough. But I would never try to tell someone who runs a huge business what they should do because I haven’t got any expertise in that whatsoever,” Stokes said.
While eager to defend his coach, Stokes was candid about England's recent performance, which included a drawn series at home to a new-look India, implying that opponents may have figured out 'Bazball.'
“I think that we are now playing against teams who have answers to the style of cricket that we have been playing over quite a long period of time now. I think in the first couple of years, teams found it difficult to try and come up with anything to combat the way that we played, but now teams are, I think, coming up with plans that are standing up to a certain style of cricket that we want to play,” Stokes said about Bazball being figured out.
“When you come up against a team like Australia out here, who know how to play cricket out here, and you are adding to your own downfall, then you’re going to end up losing the series 4-1 as we have done. When a trend is happening on a consistent basis ... that’s when you do need to go back and look at the drawing board and make some adjustments.” Stokes accepted that England needs to rethink its approach.
(Reuters inputs)
