Ben Stokes says the Ashes aftermath was the ‘toughest period’ of captaincy

Stokes and McCullum’s messages diverged as the series went on, with Stokes reflecting that England’s opponents increasingly had “answers to the style of cricket” they were playing shortly after McCullum called for his side to play with more “conviction” in their attacking methods. Key even felt moved to deny that there was a “bust-up” between them on Monday.

But Stokes, writing on Instagram, said he was “so happy” he would continue to work with McCullum and Key, with England next in action against New Zealand in a three-Test, home series in June.

“Being England’s captain is the greatest honor that can be given to a player and I do not take it for granted,” Stokes wrote in a letter addressed to England supporters. “It has its highs and it has its lows, it makes you want to smile, it makes you want to cry. It completely consumes you and feels like it’s the only thing in your life sometimes.

“The last three months have without a doubt been the most difficult period of my captaincy journey, it has tested me in so many different ways and I’m sure every other captain has also gone through this.

“Baz, Rob and I have the passion and desire to take this team forward, we’re going to give you everything we’ve got, we know we’ve made mistakes along the way and we’ve learned from those mistakes, you learn more from failure than success.

“I’ve learned a lot about myself but the most important thing I want the fans to know is that… IF*****G loves cricket, IF*****G loves this team, IF*****G loves being England captain and I have so much more to give to this role and I’m so happy to be able to do it with Baz and Rob.

“We all appreciate every single person who supports us. We do what we do for many reasons, but one of those reasons is to bring our fans and supporters happiness and a sense of pride and we will strive to do those things as much as we can in the future. See you all in June for the start of the Test match summer.”

Stokes made a limited impact in the Ashes, both as a player and captain. He took 15 wickets at 25.13 but limped out of the fifth Test with a groin injury, conceding 184 runs in 10 innings with the bat and struggling to manage an inexperienced bowling attack.

But Key said he had never seriously considered removing Stokes from the captaincy, saying: “That partnership (between Stokes and McCullum) was one of the best partnerships in English cricket.”

He added that Stokes was “keen to play for Durham” in the early rounds of the County Championship season once he completed his rehabilitation, although he did not specify how many games he would play before England’s first Test against New Zealand on June 4.