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Ben Stokes turned down all of the rumours that suggested a possible fallout between Stokes and Brendon McCullum. At the closing phase of their time with the England National Cricket Team in Tests, multiple reports claimed that Stokes and McCullum were not on the same page. Stokes announced his retirement in the middle of the third of the three-match home Test series against New Zealand, where the hosts lost by 160 runs.
After the series, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) released Brendon McCullum from the Test Team's head coach duties. With the retirement of Stokes and the snub of McCullum, the Stokes-McCullum era in England cricket came to an end disappointingly.
"We never once fell out": Ben Stokes on his relationship with Brendon McCullum.
Alongside England's downfall in the longest format of the game, several reports pointed towards some internal issues, which were then considered some major reasons behind poor results both in home and away Test matches.
Brendon McCullum previously claimed that he had a great bond with Stokes; now Stokes also claimed that they never had a fall-out with each other. The former England captain, during a For the Love of Cricket Podcast YouTube video, mentioned that they had different opinions based on their individual views, but they never fell out.
"We never once fell out. Did we have discussions with each other that we had different views on and different opinions on? 100%, and we both admit that. I think Baz has even said that himself. Did we have a fallout? Absolutely not," Ben Stokes claimed.
Why did the ECB sack Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes retire?
Ben Stokes took over England's captaincy and Brendon McCullum joined as the head coach for the Tests in the middle of the 2022 season.
Their appointments proved meaningful as they started to play Tests in a whole lotta different way. Instead of batting with a slow pace, the Stokes-McCullum duo allowed their batters to free their arms to accumulate runs at a quick pace. The method earned the nickname 'Bazball'.
'Bazball' was promising initially but started to lose momentum gradually. The Ashes 2025-26 defeat was enough for the ECB to sack both Stokes and Brendon McCullum from their respective positions. However, the cricket board kept them in their positions until the 2-1 defeat against New Zealand. Stokes retired, and McCullum was sacked.
Ben Stokes backs Harry Brook as his successor over Joe Root
ECB named Joe Root as the successor to Ben Stokes. The decision to appoint Root as the Test captain remains debatable, as Harry Brook, the white-ball captain, is the vice-captain of the team.
"I think if you think someone's going to be a good captain or a good leader, then just give it to them. I understood the reasoning, but I was still like, well, what message is that sending to him? He's vice-captain. And then the captain is not playing, but he's not captain. What?" Stokes raised the question through the same YouTube video.
