Ben Stokes comes out to bat for Brendon McCullum despite England's Ashes defeat

The tourists lost the first three Tests Down Under as the home side retained the Ashes urn with questions being asked about the McCullum's role.

An overall record of 26 wins and 17 defeats, Stokes believes, is an indication of their collective good work so far.

Stokes was speaking ahead of the fifth and final Ashes Test that starts in Sydney on Sunday, England will be looking to end the tour on a high and make the series 3-2.

"Look, I've thoroughly enjoyed the time that I've worked with Brendon," the England Test skipper said.

"I can't see there being someone else who I could take this team (with), from where we are now, to even bigger heights.

"We've put so much time and effort into getting this team to where it was from when we first started, and now we're in a situation or position where we know we want to get even more out of the group, get even more out of individuals, and we feel we've done a very good job at getting everyone to the position we're in right now.

"So, for us as captain and coach, when we do have the time off, like we've done every single time between series, we put our heads together and go 'what is it that we think we need to go to the next level?'"

Stokes added: "Because, being perfectly honest, you look back at how things have gone over the last, let's say, year - the results and the consistency hasn't quite been there from the first two-and-a-half to three years that we were in charge.

"So, when you start seeing a trend and something that is not what you want, when you have that time off between series like we do after this - from January and I think June - it's a long time for us to get things going again in the right direction.

"That's all we've ever wanted to do, is constantly push the guys and not wanting to stand still. We've obviously got some things to go away and speak about and try and get the boys pushing even further forward than we managed to achieve since me and Brendon first took over the job."

Stokes admitted he has struggled because of the relentless nature of this Ashes compared to his previous two tours.

READ MORE: Sikandar Raza set to captain Zimbabwe squad at T20 World Cup