'That dream is over' But Stokes determined to stay on as captain

As Ben Stokes stressed his commitment to leading England after losing the Ashes inside 11 days, Brendon McCullum gave his first admission of regret.

- Ali Martin

Poor preparation has been widely blamed for this failed tour of Australia and, in that regard, the head coach was prepared to hold his hand up.Speaking after the 82-run defeat at Adelaide Oval that took Australia 3-0 up with two Tests in Melbourne and Sydney to come, Stokes offered a simple “absolutely” when asked if he had the energy to continue as captain but played down England’s threadbare warm-up period.

“That dream that we came here with is now over, which is obviously incredibly disappointing,” said Stokes, at the ground where he made his Test debut 12 years ago. “I hate living in hindsight because you can never change what you have done. At the end of the day, it’s what you do out there that counts. We’ve not been able to stand up to what Australia have thrown at us.”