Stokes confident of realigning with McCullum for England
Ahead of England's international summer, Test captain Ben Stokes has backed the team's leadership group to find success.
England Test captain Ben Stokes is confident his side will find their winning ways and has backed head coach Brendon McCullum ahead of their home international summer.
Having been retained for his role as England Test skipper with Brendon McCullum as the head coach following a disastrous Ashes outing, Stokes believes his long working relationship with the coach will lift England.
“I'm very confident in mine and Brendon's ability to be able to work together,” Stokes told the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in an interview.
“We've done it for such a long period of time now.”
“But [we] work together in a slightly different way. The main point of me and Brendon is our alignment towards winning things and making this team as good as they can be.”
A 4-1 Ashes loss had put England management on notice, but having received the backing to continue, Stokes looked at things from a larger perspective.
He took pride in changing the team’s approach in the format, and how it had delivered results since he took charge alongside McCullum in 2022.
“With what me and Brendon were able to achieve with the group over a four-year period, I just couldn't imagine doing what we were trying to do with anyone else,” said Stokes.
Both Stokes and McCullum have their respective contracts running till 2027. With the Ashes and ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in the horizon next year, the all-rounder knew their respective goals.
“We're both very proud men in what we do. We put a lot of our heart and soul into this job. Brendon certainly has for the four years he's done it so far, and hopefully we'll still be together at the end of 2027, winning what we want to win.”
The interview was part of a three-minute snippet released by the ECB, with the full interview all set to be released on Wednesday.
England’s next Test outing is against New Zealand, starting 4 June at Lord’s. This series will be a part of the ICC World Test Championship 2025-27, where England sit at the seventh spot with a point percentage of 31.67.
