Ben Stokes remains committed to the England captaincy despite a painful Ashes series loss Down Under.
Head coach Brendon McCullum has likewise expressed a desire to continue in his role, although the New Zealander acknowledged that the decision is out of his hands.
Former captain Nasser Hussain, meanwhile, argued that England’s poor performances in Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide were no different from previous unsuccessful tours.
Disappointed Stokes vows to continue
In the wake of another defeat, Ben Stokes was asked by reporters if he wanted to continue as England captain, and his answer was simple: “Absolutely.”
The 34-year-old further promised that his team would not give up, saying: “That dream that we came here with is now over, which is obviously incredibly disappointing.
“Everyone is obviously hurting and quite emotional about it, but we’ve got two more games to go and that’s where the focus needs to switch to now.
“We came here with a goal in mind and we’ve not been able to achieve that. It hurts and it sucks, but we’re not going to stop.”
McCullum proud of England progress
With Ashes defeat now assured, England’s fourth in a row Down Under, questions are understandably being asked of McCullum’s future.
“I don’t know. It’s not really up to me, is it? I’ll just keep trying to do the job, try to learn the lessons that we haven’t quite got right here and try to make some adjustments,” he admitted, according to Sky Sports.
“Those questions are for someone else, not for me. Sometimes you don’t win, and then those decisions are up to other people.
“It’s a pretty good gig, it’s good fun. You travel the world with the lads and try to play some exciting cricket and try to achieve some things.
“I don’t do anything to protect the job. For me, it’s a matter of trying to just get the very best out of the people and try to achieve what you can with them.
“I’m enjoying the time that I’ve got with these guys and I think we’ve made some progress from when I took over to where we are. We’re not the finished article, but I think we’ve definitely improved as a cricket team.”
McCullum added: “Now’s the time for us, in the last two Tests, to really show our identity.
“What I’m trying to achieve with this team and what the skipper’s trying to achieve is to try and finish this tour with some pride salvaged from what’s been pretty disappointing so far.”
READ MORE: Rory McIlroy wins BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2025 after Grand Slam, Ryder Cup success
Tourists have ‘buckled’, says Hussain
Given England’s terrible recent record on Australian soil, Sky Sports pundit Nasser Hussain has noted what appears to be a lack of progress within the national set-up.
“I quite like the fact they have done things different over the last four years since the last Ashes drubbing,” Hussain explained on the Sky Sports Cricket podcast.
“I do like the fact they have thought differently, they have planned ahead. If you carry on doing what you have always done, you will get the same results, so they saw we need to do something different. I quite like that – they’ve thought ahead.
“But actually, if you’ve come here and looked at them in the last three-four weeks, you’d have thought ‘is it really that different from any other England side?’
“They’ve not batted well, they’ve not bowled well, they’ve not caught well. Under key moments and pressure situations, they’ve buckled.”
Summarising his feelings, the former player said: “We’ve ended up getting exactly what we’ve had on virtually every other Ashes tour and that’s what disappoints me, because I thought this time, with this opposition, it might have been slightly different.
“It has been no different.”
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Six Nations news: Fixtures and players to watch as France chase record eighth title
SportJustSport writers