April 14 - England captain Ben Stokes has played down reports of disagreements with head coach Brendon McCullum but added that they do have different viewpoints at times.

British media reported that former New Zealand captain McCullum's relationship with test captain Stokes frayed during the recent 4-1 Ashes series defeat in Australia, though the duo have publicly backed each other.

"I am very confident in mine and Brendon's ability to be able to work together, because we've done it for such a long period of time now," Stokes said in an interview with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

"But work together in a slightly different way. The main point of me and Brendon is our alignment towards winning things and making this team as good as they can be."

Since taking charge in 2022, McCullum and Stokes implemented an ultra-aggressive style of play known as "Bazball", which has come under much scrutiny since England's Ashes defeat, which prompted the ECB to launch a thorough review into the team’s preparations.

McCullum was retained as coach.

"Agreeing on every single thing, that's just impossible," Stokes said.

"We agree 95% of the time on things, but those 5% things that we might have different views on, we talk about it between each other and then we end up getting to the place where we want to get to.

"We put a lot of our heart and soul into this job. Brendon certainly has for the four years he's done it so far, and hopefully we'll still be together at the end of 2027, winning what we want to win."

England host New Zealand for a three-test series in June before eight limited-overs matches at home to India. REUTERS