LONDON (AP) — England captain Ben Stokes says any suggestion he and coach Brendon McCullum are not aligned “is a massive overstatement.”

Were there disagreements between them during their Ashes debacle in Australia? Yes.

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Was it any different than normal? No.

Stokes and McCullum have been in lock step since 2022 and they crashed and burned when they lost to Australia 4-1 last winter. Both men supported the other after being humbled but the Ashes review threw up signs of tension.

Stokes wanted to play more conservatively while McCullum wanted to double down on all-out attack.

Since the Ashes, Stokes has kept a low profile. When he and McCullum kept their jobs last month following the Ashes review, he posted on social media that he was happy to continue working with McCullum and the post-Ashes period had been the hardest period of his captaincy.

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The captain has used an in-house interview with the England and Wales Cricket Board to address his relationship with McCullum.

“Saying we weren’t aligned, I think, is a massive overstatement,” Stokes said.

“When you’re in a position of leadership along with someone else, if anyone thinks that you’re always going to agree on everything then it’s just impossible.

“To me, that isn’t a healthy environment for sport, in particular. You need debate. You need discussions. Then you end up getting to the place you both want to end up getting to.

“As similar as me and Brendon are, we’re also dissimilar in other areas as well. We agree 95% of the time on things, but those 5% things that we might have different views on, we talk about it between each other and then we end up getting to the place where we want to get to.”

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Stokes hasn’t played in the County Championship since breaking his cheekbone in a freak accident in preseason training with Durham. But he’s set to return in May before New Zealand arrive in June for a test series. Pakistan follow this summer, and Australia come to England in 2027.

As was recommended in the Ashes review, England’s leadership will tweak what it does with the team and Stokes has welcomed it.

“I’m very confident in mine and Brendon’s ability to be able to work together, because we’ve done it for such a long period of time now, but work together in a slightly different way,” he said.

“The main point of me and Brendon is our alignment towards winning things and making this team as good as they can be. That’s always been the thing since we started. It might just look a little bit different now to how that operates — on the back of four years working together.

“Hopefully we’ll still be together at the end of 2027, winning what we want to win.”

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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

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Regis Prograis has weighed in on the punching power of Conor Benn following their ten-round clash in London this past weekend.

Benn, dropping down after two middleweight fights last year to a catchweight of 150lbs, beat Prograis clearly over the distance, hurting him on at least one occasion but failing to register his first stoppage win since facing Chris van Heerden in 2022.

Speaking to Fight Hub TV, Prograis praised the power of Benn, going as far as to say he is the hardest puncher he has shared the ring with, but explained why that strength alone is not as effective as it could be.

“Conor hits hard. I’m pretty sure Conor hit me the hardest I’ve been hit in my career so far. Conor has a lot of power. But, the thing is, the punches you don’t see are the ones that hurt you. You can see everything Conor’s throwing. He has a big right hand, don’t get me wrong, but you can see it coming. He’s gonna load up with it.”

The former two-time super lightweight world champion then compared Benn’s attributes to the likes of Shakur Stevenson and Devin Haney, two men Benn has publicly targeted.

“I’ve been in the ring with Devin and Shakur – both of them don’t have too much power, but they’re sharpshooters. They don’t get hit and stuff like that, and they will hit you with punches you don’t see coming.”

Prograis – who announced his retirement post-fight – also lost a unanimous decision to Haney, but was knocked down in the process. His rounds with Stevenson came in the gym

Benn remains focused on power puncher Ryan Garcia, who holds the WBC welterweight title for which he is mandatory challenger.

Wales will face Romania in a friendly in Bucharest on Saturday, 6 June.

Having failed to qualify for this summer’s World Cup, Craig Bellamy’s side will take on the Romanians – who were also beaten in last month’s World Cup play-offs – at the 31,000-seater Steaua Stadium.

It will be the first meeting of the nations since the infamous game in Cardiff 1993, when Paul Bodin missed a penalty as Wales lost out to Romania in their bid to qualify for the 1994 World Cup.

In the same qualifying campaign Wales lost 5-1 at the Steaua Stadium in May 1992.

This summer’s Romania trip comes four days after Wales take on Ghana at Cardiff City Stadium in another friendly on Tuesday, 2 June.

The kick-off time in Romania is to be confirmed.

British record holder Dina Asher-Smith and Olympic 100m champion Julien Alfred are set to feature in the sprint programme at this summer’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

With 100 days to go until the Games begin on 23 July, England’s Asher-Smith will be hoping to add a first individual Commonwealth gold to her extensive medal collection at Scotstoun Stadium.

The 30-year-old, who holds the British records for the women’s 60m, 100m and 200m, could continue her rivalry with Saint Lucia’s Alfred, who claimed 100m gold and 200m silver at the Paris Olympics in 2024.

Asher-Smith, a 200m world champion in 2019 and multiple European champion, said: “I’m really excited and I’m definitely aiming to compete at both the Europeans and the Commonwealth Games, mainly because it’s going to be so much fun.

“You are going to see a lot of talented athletes come out and perform, from all across the world. From the Caribbean nations to the African nations and all across the Commonwealth, I think there are going to be some incredible performances.

“I think we’re also going to have a lot of Scottish newcomers as well, so you should definitely come and support.”

Alfred, who will be looking to go one better than the 100m silver she claimed in Birmingham in 2022, added: “The Commonwealth title is very much one I would like to add as I try to build a legacy so that when I do one day step away from the track, people will say I accomplished everything I possibly could.”

In the other second-leg quarter-final taking place on Tuesday, Atletico Madrid host Barcelona, who lost the first leg (2–0). The Catalan side will be without Raphinha through injury and Cubarsí through suspension, while Diego Simeone has underlined that his team’s aim is “a clear objective: qualification”. Lamine Yamal, meanwhile, stressed the need to play without losing their identity.

On the international stage, France‘s women’s team face the Netherlands in a two-legged tie on Tuesday and Saturday for World Cup qualification, with Mbock and Bacha returning to Laurent Bonadei’s squad.

Finally, in the NBA, Detroit finished top of the Eastern Conference ahead of Boston and New York, while Oklahoma City lead the Western Conference ahead of San Antonio and Denver. The play-in tournament begins this Tuesday for teams ranked from seventh to tenth.

Unified WBC, WBA and IBF heavyweight world champion Oleksandr Usyk takes on kickboxing sensation Rico Verhoeven at the Pyramids of Giza next month. On that card, a future opponent for the Ukrainian could be determined.

Usyk will defend the WBC belt when he takes on Verhoeven in Egypt. On the undercard, Hamzah Sheeraz and Alem Begic compete for the vacant WBO super-middleweight world title, whilst Jack Catterall and Shakhram Giyasov clash in a bout to crown a WBA Regular welterweight champion.

In terms of the heavyweight picture, Cuba’s Frank Sanchez and the United States’ Richard Torrez Jr have a chance to impess on a big stage, with both men looking to earn a shot at the heavyweight throne.

Sanchez-Torrez is a long-awaited IBF final eliminator, meaning that the victor will be installed as Usyk’s mandatory challenger and thus be ordered for a fight with the Ukrainian, who could face being stripped of his IBF world title if he does not agree to defend his belt against the winner. The unified champion has not mentioned either man in his three-fight plan before retirement.

Unlike the WBC, neither the IBF or the WBA have confirmed that they will allow Usyk to defend their belts against 1-0 boxer Verhoeven, meaning he could be stripped of the titles regardless. Should that be the case, the winner of Sanchez-Torrez may well be elevated to full IBF world champion, just as Daniel Dubois was back in 2024 shortly after defeating Filip Hrgovic in a final eliminator.

Usyk-Verhoeven will take place on Saturday, May 23, with a total of four world title contests on offer, as well as the intriguing showdown between Sanchez and Torrez Jr.