Ben Stokes (left) and Brendon McCullum united as the leaders of the England Test team in 2022. Ben Stokes says the past three months have been "the hardest period" of his England captaincy, and backed the current regime to take the team forward.

The 34-year-old posted an open letter to fans on social media after it was announced that he, head coach Brendon McCullum and England team managing director Rob Key would remain in their posts despite a 4-1 Ashes defeat over the winter.

England's Test tour of Australia was blighted by poor planning, substandard performances and off-the-field issues, including concerns over alcohol consumption. Despite this, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) resisted changing personnel after a review of the tour.

Earlier on Monday, Rob Key said there was "no bust-up" between Stokes and McCullum during the Ashes, despite the pair offering conflicting messages during the series.

Ben Stokes subsequently said, in a post with a picture of himself, Key and McCullum, that the existing England leadership group have the necessary "passion and desire" as he looked to the future.

"Being England captain is the greatest honour a player can be given and I do not take it for granted," Stokes wrote. "It has its highs and it has its lows, it makes you want to smile it makes you want to cry. It completely and utterly consumes you and feels like it's the only thing in your life at times.

The last three months have without a doubt been the hardest period of my captaincy journey, it's tested me in so many different ways and I'm sure every other captain has gone through this as well.

"Baz [McCullum], Rob [Key] and myself have the passion and desire to take this team forward, we are going to give you everything we have, we know we made mistakes along the way, and we have learnt from those mistakes, you learn more from failure than success."

Stokes has not played since he sustained a groin problem in the fifth Ashes Test in Sydney in January. He is expected to play for Durham in the County Championship early next month before attention switches to England's summer Test series against New Zealand in June and Pakistan in August and September.

Stokes acknowledged he had "learned a lot about myself" during a testing period in his career and posted a number of expletives, with asterisks, emphasising how much he "loves" cricket, the England team and being captain.

"I have got so much more to give to this role and I'm so happy that I get to do it with Baz and Rob," he added. "We all appreciate every single person who supports us. We do what we do for many reasons, but one of those reasons is to bring our supporters and fans happiness and a sense of pride and we will aim to do those things as much as we can in the future."

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