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England Test captain Ben Stokes laid bare his emotions in a social media post where he revealed that last three months have been the 'hardest period' of his leadership tenure. On March 23, Stokes, head coach Brendon McCullum and managing director Rob Key retained their respective positions after an investigation into their Ashes series loss on Australian soil was conducted. The English all-rounder is still hopeful of making the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27 final and has a message for the English fans who were looking for someone to blame after England missed out on a golden chance to win Ashes in Australia.
"Being England captain is the greatest honour a player can be given 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 and utterly consumes you and feels like it's the only thing in your life at times.
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"The last three months has without a doubt been the hardest period of my captaincy journey, it's tested me in so many different ways and I'm sure every other captain has gone through this as well.
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"Baz, Rob and myself have the passion and desire to take this team forward, we are going to give you everything we have, we know we made mistakes along the way and we have learnt from those mistakes, you learn more from failure than success.
"I have learnt a lot about myself but the most important thing that I want the fans to know is that…. I F*****G love cricket, I F*****G love this team, I F*****G love being England captain and I have got so much more to give to this role and I'm so happy that I get 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 supporters and fans happiness and a sense of pride and we will aim 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."
Earlier, this year, Stokes underwent successful facial surgery after he was struck by a ball while training in Durham. He had a broken cheekbone and other facing injuries. He had shared photos of him on social media, urging everyone to wear a helmet even if it is a training session.
Stokes would look to get back to the groove in domestic cricket.
Stokes' disappointing numbers in Ashes 2025-26
Stokes was unimpressive in the entire Ashes. He managed to take 15 wickets, averaging 25.13. In the final Test, he suffered a groin injury and had to leave the field. With the bat, he managed to score just 184 runs from 10 innings.
What's next for Stokes-led England?
England's next Test series in the ongoing WTC cycle is against New Zealand at home. Starting June 4, the three-Test series will begin on June 4. They are scheduled to play a three-Test series at home against Pakistan. Then, they have a three-Test series in South Africa and a two-Test series in Bangladesh.
Currently, they are placed seventh in the WTC standings with a win percentage of 31.67. They have a chance to make it into top two with 11 more Tests to play.
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