Ben Stokes: The England captain says the last three months have been the “toughest period” of his tenure

Ben Stokes said the last three months have been the “toughest period” of his England career, and expressed his support for the current system to move the team forward.

The 34-year-old posted an open letter to fans on social media after announcing that he, coach Brendon McCullum and England managing director Rob Key would remain in their roles despite the 4-1 Ashes defeat over the winter.

England’s Test tour of Australia was marred by poor planning, substandard performances and off-field issues including concerns about alcohol consumption.

Despite this, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) resisted changing personnel following the tour review.

Earlier on Monday, Key said there was “no rift” between Stokes and McCullum during the Ashes series despite the pair giving conflicting messages during the series.

Stokes later said, in a post with a photo of himself, Key and McCullum, that the current England leadership group had the necessary “passion and desire” as he looked to the future.

“Being captain of England is the greatest honor that can be given to a player and I never take it for granted,” Stokes wrote.

“It has its highs and it has its lows, it makes you want to smile and it makes you want to cry. It completely and completely consumes you and feels like the only thing in your life sometimes.”

“The last three months have undoubtedly been the toughest period of my journey as a captain, it has tested me in so many different ways and I’m sure every other captain has gone through this too.

“Baz [McCullum]Rob [Key] I personally have the passion and desire to move this team forward, and we will give you everything we have, and we know that we made mistakes along the way and learned from those mistakes. You learn more from failure than from success.”

Stokes has not played since suffering a groin problem in the fifth Ashes Test in Sydney in January.

He is expected to play for Durham in the County Championship early next month before attention turns to England’s summer Test series against New Zealand in June and Pakistan in August and September.

Stokes admitted he had “learned a lot about himself” during a testing period in his career and posted a number of expletives with asterisks, emphasizing how much he “loved” cricket, the England team and being a captain.

He added: “I have a lot to offer this role and I’m very happy that I will be able to do it with Baz and Rob.”

“We all appreciate everyone who supports us. We do what we do for many reasons, but one of them is to bring happiness and a sense of pride to our supporters and fans and we will aim to do these things as much as we can in the future.”