Ben Stokes, the captain of England, defended the previous captain of New Zealand ahead of the fifth and final Test match at the Sydney Cricket Ground, which begins on Sunday, January 4. Stokes claimed that he and McCullum were the best candidates to advance cricket in England.
England lost the first three Test matches against Australia without much effort, ending their hopes of winning the Ashes again for the first time in more than ten years. The players now have some breathing room after the consolation victory in Melbourne, but head coach Brendon McCullum has come under fire for the team’s poor red-ball cricket performance in recent months.
“I am certain that Brendon and I are the best individuals to continue doing this in the foreseeable future. I’ve had a great experience working with Brendon. I don’t think anyone else could lead this team [with] to greater heights than we already have. Therefore, when we do have time off as coaches and captains, we should get together and ask ourselves, “What do we think we need to do to go to the next level?” According to Yahoo Sport, Stokes stated.
In comparison to previous years, the great all-rounder admitted that the results of the previous year had been inconsistent.
When you reflect on the past year, you see that the consistency and results have not been as good as they were during the first two and a half to three years that we were in charge. Pushing the men and not wanting to stand still is all we’ve ever wanted to do. In order to drive the boys even further forward than we were able to since Brendon and I took over, we need to talk about a few things,” Stokes stated.
Is more accountability for McCullum a liability? Stokes responds
McCullum was only granted command of the Test team after he was hired by the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB). He has been the head coach in all three versions since 2025, though. Since then, England’s Test winning percentage has significantly dropped. England won 22 of 35 Test matches before to 2025. However, the Three Lions have only won four of ten Test matches since McCullum took over as all-format coach.
The T20I team has eight victories and five loses ahead of the World Cup, while the one-day team has four wins and eleven losses, leaving them out of the Champions Trophy group stage. But according to Stokes, the former wicketkeeper’s relationship with the Test team hasn’t been negatively impacted by the added responsibilities.
He works two jobs. However, it has had no impact whatsoever on our connection with this Test team,” Stokes stated.
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