Ben Stokes’ England captaincy decided after humiliating Ashes defeat | Cricket | Sport

Cricket fans have urged Ben Stokes to swallow his pride and resign as England captain after overseeing a humiliating Ashes campaign in Australia. The visitors suffered a 4-1 series defeat and were outclassed by the Aussies throughout, with their only Test victory coming on a farcical pitch at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in one of the most bizarre matches ever played.

England failed to play any proper warm-up matches before the Ashes, facing the England Lions in their only outing prior to the series. They were also highly criticised amid reports of excessive drinking in the coastal resort of Noosa during a break between Tests. As captain, much of the blame has been aimed at Stokes and Express Sport readers have given their verdict on his future.

In our latest cricket poll, just over 55 per cent of respondents suggested that Stokes should quit the captaincy in the wake of England’s embarrassing defeat Down Under.

He did retain a decent amount of support, though, with four in 10 respondents saying that he should stay on despite overseeing arguably the worst Ashes series in recent history.

Those at the top of English cricket will have some big decisions to make over the coming weeks as the inquest begins, with Stokes likely to be among those in the firing line.

Head coach Brendon McCullum has also been slammed for refusing to adapt his gung-ho approach to Test cricket, nicknamed Bazball, despite it clearly not working against the Aussies.

Geoffrey Boycott offered a stinging assessment of the England team following their Ashes humiliation, suggesting that what was once an exciting philosophy had become an excuse for recklessness and a refusal to change.

Writing for The Telegraph, he said: “England’s three wise men turned out to be the three stooges. Brendon McCullum, Rob Key and Ben Stokes sold a lie for three years.

“McCullum’s philosophy is do your own thing. Play without a care in the world. Nobody tells them off, no accountability, and nobody gets dropped so they just keep doing the same daft things.”

Perhaps the most damning observation came when Boycott argued that England had effectively sheltered themselves from reality.

He added: “Why should the players change, adapt or improve if the coach and captain are okay with it? This sort of free licence to do whatever you please with no consequence is holding England back.”

Stokes, meanwhile, has publicly backed McCullum and wants him to continue leading England in spite of their dreadful Ashes campaign.

“Me and Brendon know how to run a dressing room,” he insisted. “We know how to give the lads the best possible chance of being as good as they can be.

“I guess it’s a fine line, that kind of stuff. Everyone’s got an opinion on how things should be run, but I would never try and tell someone who runs a huge business what they [should do] because I’ve got no expertise in that.”