Ben Stokes: England’s Test captain says he will definitely accept a white-ball call-up under Brendon McCullum

Test captain Ben Stokes has said he will definitely accept a call-up to play in England’s white-ball teams under new head coach Brendon McCullum.

McCullum will officially take over as white-ball coach alongside his role as Test team head coach from January 2025, in time for the white-ball tour of India and the ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan.

Under the new regime, England’s coaching across all formats will become unified under McCullum, with Stokes eager to return to the fold.

“I’ve played a lot of white-ball cricket for England and I’m very happy and content with what I’ve achieved in that form of the game,” Stokes told Sky Sports Cricket.

“If I am part of the white-ball teams’ plans going forward in any way, shape or form then great, but also I’m fine if I’m not because that would mean that someone else is coming through and doing really well.

“If I get the call to come and play, then obviously it’s definitely going to be a yes. But I’m not going to be too disappointed if I don’t – it means that I can just sit back and watch everyone else go out and smack it.

“Me and Baz [Brendon] have not spoken about anything like that whatsoever.

“He’s just letting me concentrate on what I need to with the Test team and when that time and conversation comes and then we’ll see.

“This white-ball team has obviously gone in a new direction, especially coming into this summer.

“We’ve seen some unbelievable talent come through – just to point out one, Jacob Bethell, who I think is going to be a superstar.”

Stokes: McCullum an incredible coach

McCullum’s success has been evident with England winning 22 of the 29 Tests played under his leadership.

And Stokes added on his white-ball appointment: “He [McCullum] asked me about it. I had to keep my mouth shut for a while because I knew a long time before it was announced.

“I’m a cricket fan, an England cricket fan and I want all the teams to be as well as each other.

“If there was any selfishness about me, I would have said ‘nah, you need to be with us’, but I think it’s an amazing opportunity for the white-ball team to experience what Baz has brought to the Test team.

“He’s an incredible coach, he speaks with utter commitment, he really believes in what he’s saying and trying to deliver… and he inspires you to go out and play in that way.

“I’m really looking forward to the white-ball team being able to have McCullum in the dressing room and it’s nice to have all three teams with the same messaging and same philosophies towards playing cricket.”

Stokes says rehab on hamstring tear has gone ‘really well’

England’s white-ball squad is currently undergoing a regeneration after they lost both of their world titles within the space of eight months, leading to Matthew Mott’s departure.

Stokes opted out of selection for the T20 World Cup earlier this year to focus on the Test summer, with England winning five of their six games.

The last white-ball game Stokes played was for the Northern Superchargers during The Hundred this summer where he picked up a hamstring injury which ruled him out of the Sri Lanka Test series.

Stokes has a scan on the injury on Wednesday, ahead of the upcoming Test tour to Pakistan in October, but was in good spirits despite admitting that him bowling in the series would be unlikely.

“Rehab has gone really well,” he said on Tuesday. “Hopefully tomorrow everything gets the all clear and we can start pushing it a bit more.

“In terms of bowling, there’s a lot more than just my hamstring that I need to get back firing – you use everything.

“I need to get that all right to make sure I don’t do any more damage to any other parts of my body.”

‘Unbelievable performances’ from Atkinson and Smith

Stokes also reflected on his Test team’s series whitewash win over West Indies and the 2-1 triumph over Sri Lanka that ended with a sloppy performance in the third and final Test at The Oval.

The skipper picked out Gus Atkinson and Jamie Smith for praise after the Surrey youngsters impressed when making their debuts this summer.

“Winning five out of six Tests was an amazing effort,” Stokes said. “Obviously we would have loved to have won that last one, to say that we have won all Tests this summer, but if you look back to the start and someone had offered you five out of six, you’d definitely take that.

“We had some unbelievable performances from new guys – younger lads coming in and taking opportunities, doing really well. Gus Atkinson and Jamie Smith were obviously the two standouts.

“For Gus to come in and take that amount of wickets [34] and get those runs down the order, his performances were incredible.

“His hundred at Lord’s maybe exceeded a few expectations! Although I knew he had potential with the bat, we all did.”

Stokes added on Smith: “One of the most impressive things I’ve seen early on in his career is his ability to be able to read the situation – for such a young, inexperienced cricketer at international level.

“As soon as we lost the lower order and the bowlers started coming in, you saw he was able to flick that switch very quickly.

“These days, no boundary is big enough for anyone, and certainly not for Jamie – grounds aren’t even big enough, we’ve seen him hit it out of Lord’s and Edgbaston!”

England’s 2024 tour of Pakistan – series schedule:

• First Test, Multan – October 7-11
• Second Test, Multan – October 15-19
• Third Test, Rawalpindi – October 24-28

England vs Australia schedule – all games live on Sky Sports

• 1st ODI (September 19) – Trent Bridge, Nottingham – Australia won by seven wickets
• 2nd ODI (September 21) – Headingley, Leeds – Australia won by 68 runs
• 3rd ODI (September 24) – Seat Unique Riverside – England won by 46 runs (DLS)
• 4th ODI (September 27) – Lord’s, London (12.30pm start)
• 5th ODI (September 29) – The Seat Unique Stadium, Bristol (11am start)