Alastair Cook questions if England's 'relaxed' cricket under Stokes & McCullum really better?

The ongoing mega ICC cricket showdown Champions Trophy 2025 has seen some shocking performances by some top international teams. One of the teams who have completely underperformed in the tournament is the Jos Buttler-led England side who failed to win a single match during the tournament and finished last in their group. The England side is the only team in the tournament who have ended the tournament with zero points.

There has been a lot of criticism towards the team from several experts and former England cricketers who have expressed disappointment towards the performance of the team. One of the former cricketers who was disappointed with how the team performed was former England skipper and legendary batter Alastair Cook who was annoyed with the relaxed approach of the team under Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes and also brought up the way he trained as a player.

“All my preparation was done leading up to it, I hit a lot of balls. I see the set-up now with Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes and it's a lot more relaxed. I'm not sure how much I would have enjoyed that relaxedness," said the former 2013 Champions Trophy finalist on the ‘Load of BS on Sport' podcast.

“I liked, I suppose with Goochy (Graeme Gooch), hit lots of balls, and if you're in form hit even more balls because you don't want to waste that rhythm. Andy Flower was constantly improving, always working," Cook added.

Buttler stepped after shoddy Champions Trophy exit

Speaking of the England team star wicketkeeper-batter Jos Buttler stepped down as the skipper in both One Day Internationals (ODIs) and T20Is. This has left a lot of fans curious about who will be leading the side in these two formats going forward. This is perhaps one of the darkest moments of England cricket which all the fans and former players will not want to remember.