Cricket news: Ben Stokes X-rated rant after England future decided following Ashes review

Ben Stokes exploded a string of F bombs after he and Brendon McCullum were cleared to try to regain the Ashes in 2027.

A review into the 4-1 Ashes thrashing decided Test captain Stokes will keep his job alongside head coach McCullum and team supremo Rob Key.

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They will be tasked with improving performances and culture with the ultimate dream of beating the Aussies at home next summer.

Stokes and England coach McCullum disagreed on tactics during the winter.

The captain wanted more caution while the coach believed Bazball continued to be the way.

But they have patched up their differences.

“Being England captain is the greatest honour a player can be given and I do not take it for granted,” Stokes said.

“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.

“The last 3 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.

“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***ING love cricket, I F***ING love this team, I F***ING 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. Stokesy.”

There were high hopes for the Ashes tour that the team could do something not achieved since 2011 and win a series in Australia.

However, the hopes were dashed in just 11 days of action as the Aussies retained the famous urn.

This included England losing the first Test match in Perth in just two days.

It was the quickest an Ashes series had been settled since England’s tour of Australia in 2002/03.

The performances were not the only issue as controversy followed the team away from the wicket.

Batter Harry Brook reportedly punched by a bouncer after being refused entry into a nightclub in New Zealand in the warm-up for the Ashes tour.

The team’s mid-series break in Noosa was described as “a glorified stag do” despite the defeats to Australia.

A BBC report claimed several players drank for four straight days.

Stokes has been kept on in his post along with ‘Bazball’ figurehead coach Brendon McCullum and director Rob Key.

There was one positive in the Ashes series as England won their first Test match in Australia in 15 years.

They triumphed to a four-wicket victory in the Boxing Day Test match in Melbourne in just 142 overs.

Stokes is recovering from a broken cheekbone sustained last month when struck by a ball while watching in the Durham nets.

But he plans playing several matches in the county championship before the Test summer starts.

There will be a three-match series against New Zealand which starts on June 4.

England will then host Pakistan across August and September in another three-match series.

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