Ben Stokes plays down rift with Brendon McCullum during the Ashes

The messaging from Brendon McCullum, left, and Ben Stokes, right, differed during the Ashes (Robbie Stephenson/PA) (PA Wire)

England Test captain Ben Stokes has sought to quell speculation regarding a potential rift with head coach Brendon McCullum, though he conceded their working relationship is set to "look a little bit different" this summer.

The comments come after reports of tension following England's humbling Ashes defeat in Australia over the winter.

The dynamic duo, who have spearheaded England's 'Bazball' revolution since taking charge in 2022, appeared to diverge in their tactical approaches during the recent Ashes series.

While Stokes adopted a more conservative and gritty stance as the tour progressed, delivering some stern words to his squad, McCullum maintained his unwavering commitment to ultra-attacking cricket.

Stokes saw his England side suffer a heavy defeat in Australia (PA Wire)

Despite public displays of mutual support after the 4-1 loss, a post-Ashes review reportedly highlighted signs of underlying tension.

Rob Key, managing director of men’s cricket, previously dismissed talk of a "big bust-up" between the influential pair last month.

Now, Stokes has offered his own perspective, telling the England and Wales Cricket Board in an in-house interview: "Saying we weren’t aligned, I think, is a massive overstatement."

He elaborated on the nature of leadership: "When you’re in a position of leadership along with someone else, if anyone thinks that you’re always going to agree on everything, then it’s just impossible."

Stokes emphasised the importance of constructive disagreement.

"To me, that isn’t a healthy environment for sport, in particular. You need debate. You need discussions. Then you end up getting to the place you both want to end up getting to," he explained.

He acknowledged their differences: "As similar as me and Brendon are, we’re also dissimilar in other areas as well. We agree 95 per cent of the time on things, but those five per cent 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."

Stokes believes he and McCullum are still the right people to take English cricket forward (Robbie Stephenson/PA). (PA Wire)

With Test series against New Zealand and Pakistan on the horizon this summer, and the prospect of reclaiming the Ashes on home soil in 2027, Stokes expressed confidence in their continued collaboration.

He hinted at an evolution in their methods: "I’m 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, but work together in a slightly different way."

The England captain reiterated their shared objective.

"The main point of me and Brendon is our alignment towards winning things and making this team as good as they can be. That’s always been the thing since we started. It might just look a little bit different now to how that operates – on the back of four years working together," he stated, adding, "hopefully we’ll still be together at the end of 2027, winning what we want to win."

Stokes is currently recovering from a facial injury sustained during pre-season training with Durham and is expected to return to lead England for their first Test of the summer at Lord’s on June 4.