‘It’s my fault’ – Ben Stokes takes complete responsibility of Brendon McCullum’s exit as England men’s Test team coach

The whole cricket fraternity came to a standstill when Ben Stokes announced his retirement from international cricket in the middle of England’s home Test series against New Zealand last month. Having being appointed as the Test captain in 2022, Stokes along with head coach Brendon McCullum reshaped England’s approach in red-ball cricket – playing aggressive and with intent.

However, two weeks after Stokes announced his retirement, McCullum was sacked from his red-ball job with fellow New Zealander Stephen Fleming taking over. Joe Root has been reappointed as England Test captain. McCullum’s sacking comes after England’s recent poor show.

After the Stokes-McCullum pair inspired a run of 10 wins out of their first 11 games in charge, England have failed to maintain the same consistency. The scrutiny over McCullum intensified after England’s 1-4 loss to Australia in Ashes 2025-26 and recent 1-3 loss to New Zealand at home.

Reacting to McCullum’s exit, Stokes revealed he was left stunned. “I was [surprised],” said Stokes on For The Love of Cricket podcast, which is hosted by his former teammates Stuart Broad and Jos Buttler.

“If I hadn’t made the decision that I made four weeks ago, Baz would still be coach. So it’s my fault!” added the 35-year-old. During his tenure as the head coach of the Test team, England won 27 matches, lost 20 and drew twice under McCullum. However, he is still the white ball head coach.

Asked if he had any discussions with McCullum after their respective exits, Stoke added, “When I told Baz (about his own retirement) he was making toast and I just went ‘oh, I’m done’, I’d obviously had discussions with him anyway and then told him over toast.

“Then, again, he was like ‘yeah, I’ve been given the tap on the shoulder’ and I was like ‘oh’. But he’s still very excited and very happy to be moving forward with the white-ball because he’s doing a very good job there.”

Ben Stokes reveals coaching ambition

However, Stokes also revealed that he is currently doing a level three coaching and would like to coach the national team one day. “I’m doing my level three coaching now while I’m still playing, because I want, when the day comes that I’m not playing any more, I’d love to be able to have all that stuff signed off and done,” Stokes said.

“I want to be a coach. I know what I want to do in terms of staying within the game, which is to be a coach. And would I love to be coach of England one day? Absolutely. I would do a pretty good job at it because now I have an understanding of responsibility on the shoulders. I don’t actually mind making big decisions,” added the all-rounder.