England Skipper Stokes: No Fallout With McCullum, But Approach Will Change

England Captain Stokes eyes new dynamic with McCullum After Ashes defeat

Ben Stokes has denied a rift with Brendon McCullum after Ashes loss, saying their partnership remains strong but will “look a little bit different” this season.

England Captain Stokes dismisses talk of rift with head Coach McCullum...

England captain Ben Stokes has played down talk of a breakdown in his relationship with coach Brendon McCullum, though he says how they work together will “look a little bit different” this season.

Stokes and McCullum, the former New Zealand captain, have been a close partnership since linking up in 2022.

But their approaches seemed to diverge as England slipped to a poor 4-1 Ashes series defeat in Australia.

As the series went on, all-rounder Stokes favored a more grinding, disciplined style, while McCullum stuck to his mantra of ultra-aggressive 'Bazball' cricket.

Both backed each other publicly at the end of the series and Stokes repeated that stance after media reports claimed a post-Ashes review had exposed tensions between the pair.

“Saying we weren't aligned, I think, is a massive overstatement,” Stokes said in an in-house interview with the England and Wales Cricket Board published Tuesday.

“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.”

England return to Test action in June against New Zealand before hosting Pakistan. Stokes said his working dynamic with McCullum will change as the team aims to get back to winning ways before the 2027 Ashes in England.

“I'm very confident in mine and Brendon's ability to be able to work together, because we've done it for such a long period of time now, but work together in a slightly different way,” he said.

Ben Stokes 🤝 Brendon McCullum pic.twitter.com/bfcBjI0zBW

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) April 14, 2026

“The main point of me and Brendon is our alignment towards winning things and making this team as good as they can be. That's always been the thing since we started. It might just look a little bit different now to how that operates - on the back of four years working together.

“Hopefully we'll still be together at the end of 2027, winning what we want to win.”

Stokes is currently recovering from a facial injury after being hit by a stray ball in pre-season training, but is expected to captain England in the first Test against New Zealand at Lord's on June 4th.