Stokes will be sweet for Ashes, says McCullum

Coach backs skipper to be fit and firing for Australia, despite his niggling knee injury

- Cameron Ponsonby

BRENDON MCCULLUM believes the upcoming Ashes series "is the script that Ben Stokes is waiting to write".

After a one-off Test against Ireland in June, England's next Test assignment is the blue-chip series against Australia.

Until this point, McCullum and Co have been keen to not look too far ahead, but they are now allowing themselves to get excited.

"Now we have the opportunity to really start to plot and plan and turn our attention to what's going to be a pretty amazing time in the guys' lives," said England Test head coach McCullum. "An Ashes series at home against a good Australian side, so I think we'll go into it with a lot of confidence. We know they're a good side. We'll work out who wins.

"I hadn't thought about the Ashes, to be honest. Everyone talks about it and, obviously, you're going to be judged on your performance in the Ashes. But now I'm starting to go 'the next series is the Ashes; that's pretty cool"