Ben Stokes says he must work differently with Brendon McCullum

England captain Ben Stokes said suggestions he was at loggerheads with Brendon McCullum were exaggerated but admitted he had to work with the head coach “in a slightly different way”.

Stokes and McCullum’s messages appeared divergent during England’s 4-1 Ashes defeat in Australia.

Stokes asked his players to come into the game and he did it himself, with his own batting tempo. In contrast, McCullum believed that England were moving away from the aggression that had previously brought them success.

At the end of the series, Stokes said his opponents had figured out how to play against England.

Last month director of cricket Rob Key said there was no “malevolence” between the two. Stokes, McCullum and Key will remain in their jobs following the Ashes review conducted by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

Stokes told the ECB in his first interview since the Ashes: “I’m very confident in mine and Brendon’s ability to work together because we’ve been doing this for such a long time.

“But work together in a slightly different way. The whole point of me and Brendon is that we’re aligned to win things and make this team the best it can be.”

Stokes and McCullum joined forces in charge of the Test team in 2022 and achieved instant success, winning 10 of the first 11 Tests.

Since then England have suffered more defeats than wins – 17 to 16. The defeat in Australia followed a 2-2 draw at home with India.

Stokes and McCullum openly supported each other at the end of the Ashes, but by then they had given different messages to the media, fueling suggestions of a rift. McCullum was also remarkably enthusiastic about white-ball captain Harry Brook’s leadership during the T20 World Cup that followed the Ashes.

But all-rounder Stokes said the idea that he was not “on the same page” as the New Zealander was a “huge exaggeration”.

“We usually agree 95% of the time on some things, but on the 5% where we might have different views, we talk over each other and eventually get to where we want to get to,” Stokes said.

“Agreeing on everything, that’s simply impossible.”