Stokes and McCullum’s messages diverged as the series went on, with Stokes reflecting that England’s opponents increasingly had “answers to the style of cricket” they were playing soon after McCullum had called for his team to play with more “conviction” in their attacking methods. Key even felt moved to deny there had been a “bust-up” between them on Monday.
But Stokes, writing on Instagram, said that he was “so happy” that he will continue to work with McCullum and Key, with England next in action against New Zealand in a three-Test, home series in June.
“Being England captain is the greatest honour a player can be given and I do not take it for granted,” Stokes wrote in a letter addressed to England supporters. “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.
“The last three months has without a doubt been the hardest period of my captaincy journey, it’s tested me in so many different ways and I’m sure every other captain has gone through this as well.
“Baz, Rob and myself 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.
“I have learnt a lot about myself but the most important thing that I want the fans to know is that…. I F*****G love cricket, I F*****G love this team, I F*****G love being England captain and I have got so much more to give to this role and I’m so happy that I get to do it with Baz and Rob.
“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.”
Stokes made a limited impact in the Ashes both as player and captain. He took 15 wickets at 25.13 but hobbled out of the fifth Test with a groin injury, ground out 184 runs in 10 innings with the bat, and struggled to manage an inexperienced bowling attack.
But Key said that he had never seriously considered removing Stokes from the captaincy, saying: “That partnership [between Stokes and McCullum] has been one of the better partnerships in English cricket.”
He added that Stokes was “keen to play for Durham” in the early rounds of the County Championship season once he has completed his rehabilitation, though did not specify how many matches he might play before England’s first Test against New Zealand on June 4.
