Former England captain Ben Stokes denied having a fallout with former Head coach Brendon McCullum as the duo’s tenures as Test captain and head coach came to an end after their recent home series against New Zealand. With England going
down 1-2 in the three-match series and other external issues making headlines during the series, there were rumours around Stokes and McCullum falling out as well. Soon, Stokes announced his international retirement in the middle of the series finale in Nottingham, which England lost by 160 runs. After the series, England also sacked McCullum as their Test head coach as well.

Over a month after his retirement, Stokes commented on his relationship with McCullum, saying on the For the Love of Cricket Podcast (via BBC): “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 also expressed surprise at England turning away from Harry Brook as the next Test captain and instead made Joe Root the captain for the second time as well. Brook leads England in both the white-ball formats and was deputy to Stokes
in the Test side as well.

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“I think just if you think someone’s going to be a good captain or a good leader, then just give them it. 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?,” said Stokes.

“I wish him [Root] nothing but success. I hope he goes on and achieves amazing things in his role as captain. I told Joe, I said my only worry is just you. And that’s all I really care about now, just because I have seen what he went through and how much he put himself through for someone. He’s just always put the team first – he always comes second,” he concluded.