'Sold A Lie For Three Years': Anger Mounts As Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum Take Heat Over Ashes Humiliation

Australia inflicted a 4-1 hammering on England, retaining the Ashes urn on home soil. The visitors ended their prolonged Ashes drought with a rare Test win at Adelaide but couldn't keep their flag flying high and went on to lose the final Test match by 5 wickets.

Geoffrey Boycott Slams Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum

Calls have been made to make some changes to the England management. Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum have been feeling the heat, but with the T20 World Cup round the corner, the ECB is reportedly not keen to take any knee-jerk decision and will review the situation after the tournament concludes.

Geoffrey Boycott lambasted both Stokes and McCullum for selling a lie to the supporters for three years.

In his Telegraph column, he said, "England’s three wise men turned out to be the three stooges. Brendon McCullum, Rob Key and Ben Stokes sold a lie for three years. McCullum’s philosophy is do your own thing. Play without a care in the world. Nobody tells them off, no accountability, and nobody gets dropped so they just keep doing the same daft things.

“Why should the players change, adapt or improve if the coach and captain are okay with it? People are now getting fed up with this way of playing and if Key keeps backing McCullum to allow the players to continue making the same mistakes then his job may be on the line.”

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ECB's Brendon McCullum Plan After Ashes Humiliation

Despite all the pressure, Ben Stokes affirmed his commitment to work with McCullum in Test cricket. The nature of the defeat sparked reactions all over, particularly as this was dubbed as the best opportunity to achieve something remarkable in the Ashes. Since 2022, there has been a notable reduction in the number of assistants supporting McCullum, which has limited the diversity of viewpoints within the setup.

Reports indicated that McCullum might be allowed to continue the rest of his contract, which expires in 2027, and he will be supported with a far broader backroom staff.

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