 "'England cricketers talk lot of rubbish': ECB boss criticises white-ball players, makes stunning Stokes revelation")
Rob Key, England’s director of men’s cricket, has rejected the allegations that the national cricket team did not do enough training during ODIs against India and in the Champions Trophy, but he chided the team for their press statements that “do not help” the image of the team.
England lost three ODIs in India before losing all their matches in the Champions Trophy 2025 and getting knocked out in the group stage. The England team had been accused of playing golf instead of training during their tour of India, which created a perception that they were not interested in playing ODIs.
Champions Trophy 2025: News | Schedule | Results
Some of their comments in the press had also backfired when England players stressed on playing entertaining brand of cricket as they kept losing.
‘England players speak a lot of rubbish’
Former England batter Key said that England players are serious about their job, but they need to stop taking “rubbish” in the press conferences.
“I have no issue with the way our guys go about things, but there’s no doubt that we’ve got to get better when we’re doing interviews, when players are doing their post-match press conferences, we speak a lot of rubbish a lot of the time,” Key said.
“They’re trying so hard to not sort of upset players in the dressing room, not try and give away something that they don’t think they should, and then they end up creating headlines through that. But I don’t kill people for the things they say.”
I feel like this clip will get some use... pic.twitter.com/KcQPVnDabN
— Danny (@dafrankland) March 6, 2025
Impact Shorts
More ShortsKey added: “There’s not a world in where we think the players don’t care, that they don’t want to go and get big scores, that they don’t care about winning, that they’re arrogant.
“That’s absolutely not true. Half the time when they’re getting themselves into trouble it’s because they’re actually trying to concentrate so hard that they end up making mistakes.
“Sometimes they’re reckless, sometimes they make the wrong decision at the wrong time, but that’s the game, right?”
Ben Stokes can be next England ODI captain
Key also indicated the Test captain Ben Stokes can be asked to lead the team in ODIs after Jos Buttler stepped down following a disappointing Champions Trophy 2025.
“Nothing is off the table,” said Key. “You look at every single option and think, ‘What is the best thing to do?’
“Ben Stokes is one of the best captains I’ve ever seen. It would be stupid not to look at him. It’s just the knock-on effect of what that means.”
“He’s an unbelievably good tactician, which we’ve seen in Test cricket, but he’s a leader of men. He’s someone who gets the best out of people. He’s someone that, when the pressure is really on, he’s able to throw a blanket around the players and actually say, ’no, no, this is the way forward. Keep going with it’.
“They’re the qualities that you need in leadership. Ben’s, as we know, an outstanding player, an outstanding leader. It’s more about, what would that then mean to him? What would that then mean to his workload?
“We don’t want to risk other things as well. But there’s always a way in England, I think, where you start looking at, ‘what if it goes wrong?’ You’ve also got to think, ‘what if it goes right?’. They’re the decisions that I have to make.”
Seam-bowling all-rounder Stokes last played ODI cricket in the 2023 World Cup when he returned from retirement from 50-over cricket. He was also expected to play for England in the Champions Trophy 2025, but a hamstring injury he suffered during the third Test against New Zealand in late 2024 ruled him out of contention.
He is currently recovering from a hamstring operation while training with England Lions players in Abu Dhabi.
Key also indicated that England can have different captains in ODIs and T20Is. The T20I captaincy can go to white-ball vice-captain Harry Brook.
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