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England skipper Ben Stokes took to social media, describing the aftermath of a disastrous 4-1 loss to Australia in the away Ashes as the "hardest period of his captaincy journey" but vowed to bring "happiness and a sense of pride" for the fans in the Test summer this year.
Stokes and McCullum, who had refreshed the English batting group with a fearless, attacking and positive 'Bazball' approach to cricket, keeping the Ashes series at home and away in mind, failed to win in any of the series, drawing 2-2 at home in 2023 and facing a humiliating 1-4 loss in Australia. While there were still a plenty of positives to take away from the drawn series at home, England's batting methodology was exposed to be extremely vulnerable and brittle in Australian conditions, even with experienced pacers like skipper Pat Cummins (played only one Test) and Josh Hazlewood (missed the entire series) sitting out. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Monday confirmed that Stokes, McCullum and Key would be retaining their jobs following a review into the series loss. During the tour Down Under, the messaging to the team given to the media by Stokes and McCullum diverged, with the skipper frustratingly calling for the team to rise under pressure and McCullum sticking to his approach, urging players to display more "conviction" in the attacking brand of cricket they were playing. The contrast was such that Key had to deny that there was any "bust up" between the captain-coach duo. Stokes, writing on Instagram, expressed happiness that he will continue working with the McCullum-Key duo, with England's Test summer at home starting against New Zealand with a three-match series in June. "Being England captain is the greatest honour a player can be given and I do not take it for granted. It has its highs, and it has its lows; it makes you want to smile, it makes you want to cry. It completely and utterly consumes you and feels like it's the only thing in your life at times," said Stokes while starting off his emotional letter as quoted by ESPNCricinfo. "The last three months have without a doubt been the hardest period of my captaincy journey. It has tested me in so many different ways and I'm sure every other captain has gone through this as well," he added. Stokes also said that he, McCullum and Key "have the passion and desire to take this team forward". "We are going to give you everything we have, we know we made mistakes along the way, and we have learnt from those mistakes, you learn more from failure than success," he added. The England skipper thanked his fans for their support and vowed to put some smile back on their faces and restore their pride during the Test summer from June. "We all appreciate every single person who supports us. We do what we do for many reasons, but one of those reasons is to bring our supporters and fans happiness and a sense of pride, and we will aim to do those things as much as we can in the future. See you all in June for the start of the Test Match summer," he concluded. During the Ashes, Stokes had a limited impact with the bat, scoring just 184 runs in 10 innings, with a half-century to his name, but took 15 wickets at an average of 25.13, including a five-wicket haul in the first Test. In the fifth Test, he faced groin injury issues and throughout the series, struggled to carry a largely inexperienced pace attack consisting of him, Jofra Archer, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Gus Atkinson and Matthew Potts. After the review was carried out, Key also said that removing Stokes-McCullum from their positions was never an option, calling it "one of the better partnerships in English cricket." He also said that Stokes was "keen to play for Durham" in the County Championship, starting from April 3, after completing his rehabilitation. Though the number of matches he could play was not specified. (ANI)
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