England skipper Ben Stokes, who recently opened up after the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) retained Brendon McCullum as head coach following their Ashes 2025-26 humiliation, has once again reaffirmed confidence in their camaraderie. With England looking forward to the international home summer, Stokes vowed to bring back the glory days in England’s Test cricket.
In his recent interview with the ECB, the English all-rounder said, “I’m very confident in mine and Brendon’s ability to be able to work together. We’ve done it for such a long period of time now.” The 34-year-old further added, “[We] work together in a slightly different way. The main point of Brendon and me is our alignment towards winning things and making this team as good as they can be.”
Ben Stokes refutes reports of rift with McCullum
Moreover, the red-ball skipper during the same conversation also dismissed rumours of a rift.
“Saying we weren’t aligned, I think, is a massive overstatement,” Stokes clarified during the in-house interview. “When you’re in a position of leadership along with someone else, if anyone thinks that you’re always going to agree on everything, then it’s just impossible.”
Stokes and McCullum have been working closely since 2022. However, they had different approaches in the Ashes series and garnered criticism for the same. While one continued with the ‘Bazball’ approach, the other took the more disciplined approach, thus attracting rumours of a rift. Although the duo backed each other in public, Stokes reiterated his approach, backing McCullum.
Coming back to the Three Lions, the English team will return to the longest format in June 2026 against New Zealand, which is part of the ICC World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle. They will then host Pakistan for a Test summer as will look to return to winning ways ahead of the 2027 Ashes in England.
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