Defiant Ben Stokes makes case for England to extend ‘Bazball’ double act with Brendon McCullum

Ben Stokes believes splitting up his “Bazball” double act with Brendon McCullum would be the wrong solution for England’s Ashes disappointment.

England handed the urn to Australia with three defeats in 11 chastening days before ending their 15-year winless streak Down Under with victory in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG.

One more chance awaits when they line up for the series finale in Sydney on Sunday, with the fate of the regime’s key decision-makers still under the microscope. With his unmatched influence in the dressing room and no obvious contenders to replace him, Stokes’s position as captain appears on considerably firmer footing than McCullum’s.

But the pair have worked at close quarters over the past three-and-a-half years, and Stokes is certain they are best placed to pick up the pieces from an anti-climactic tour.

Both men are contracted for another 18 months, culminating in the home Ashes summer of 2027, and Stokes said: “There is no doubt in my mind that me and Brendon are the right people to carry on doing this for the near future.

“I can’t see there being someone else who I could take this team [with] from where we are now to even bigger heights. We’re both pretty keen on carrying on doing what we are doing.

“We haven’t won here since 2010. Ashes tours in the past haven’t gone well. You talk about wanting to change things... [but] if you do what we’ve done over the last four years, we’ll just end up back in the same situation.

“The results and the consistency hasn’t quite been there from the first two-and-a-half to three years that we were in charge. But when you have that time off between series like we do after this – from January to June – it’s a long time for us to get things going again in the right direction.

“We’ve obviously got some things to go away and speak about to try and get the boys pushing even further forward than we managed to achieve since me and Brendon first took over the job.”

England’s spirits were lifted by their four-wicket win in Melbourne, their first on Australian soil in 19 attempts.

The home side’s head coach, Andrew McDonald, attempted to deflate things by suggesting the true Ashes contest was already over at 3-0, but Stokes was in no mood to agree.

“He sees it that way and we see it differently,” he responded. “I get it, they’ve won the Ashes. We’re still going out there and representing our country, so there’s still lots to play for.

“It doesn’t take anything away from the satisfaction and the immense pride that we have as a group at winning that last game and I think we can take the emotions of what that felt like into this game here at Sydney.”

Stokes admits the intensity of the trip has been draining for him as a skipper, particularly the attempt to shield himself and his players from the constant barrage of scrutiny that has followed them throughout their stay Down Under.

“No doubt it’s been tough. I can’t sit and lie and say it’s been a walk in the park,” he said.

“We expected it, we’d planned for it, and I’ve done a few tours here, but it’s been even higher than any other tour I’ve been on. Social media, and media in general, has changed a lot and impossible to not see anything these days.

“I’ve got pretty thick skin towards it all, but it’s just impossible not to see it. The only way to do it is just throw your phone in the river, but I like games on my phone too much to do that.”