Ben Stokes: Brendon McCullum supports the England captain’s batting

Stokes turned 35 on the first day of the Lord’s Test, his 43rd in charge of England. If he is fit for the next 18 months, the Durham man could lead a further 17 Tests until the end of the next Ashes, putting him on 60 as captain. Joe Root holds the record for most Test appearances as England captain, with 64.

Captains often experience a slowdown in output the longer they spend at the post, the workload distracting from their own game. Stokes, whose workload as an all-rounder is considerable, explained that the drop to number seven was to ease the burden on his shoulders.

Stokes’ batting average as captain is worse than when he was in the ranks – around 36 compared to 32 as captain when not. However, Stokes’ bowling average is much better when he is leading England – taking his wickets at 28 runs as captain, as opposed to around 33.

Discussing how a coach can advise Stokes, New Zealand’s McCullum said: “Stokes has a strong belief in what he believes in. He is very rational. He only trusts a certain number of people, which is not a bad thing in life.

“If you’re able to make valid points, he’s very reasonable in being able to take those on board.

“He’s good. He’s doing great things. I really think his batting is going to take some good positives in the next little while. I think he’s not too far off.”

Compared to his England Test teammates, Stokes’ absence from white-ball cricket is unusual.

After the three-Test series against New Zealand, some of the Test team will go on to play the white-ball series against India, which will be followed by the Hundred.

But Stokes is out of England’s white-ball plans from 2023 and has no team in The Hundred.

After the series against New Zealand, Stokes has no opportunity to play in the Championship for Durham before another three-Test series against Pakistan begins in August.

Durham head coach Ryan Campbell has suggested Stokes could play for the county in the One-Day Cup, which runs alongside The Hundred.

“I’m confident in the work he’s doing,” McCallum said. “I think he’s doing very well.

“Sometimes when you don’t play much cricket – and we’re all guilty of it – in the rush to improve, we can sometimes become rigid or robotic. That’s what our cricketers do.

“No. 7 is a nice role for him. With his experience and cricketing nous, he is able to handle and handle the tail quite nicely, also has the raw power to score if you are down eight or nine wickets. And he still gets to bat with the batter.”