Ben Stokes issues backing to Joe Root and Chris Silverwood

GEORGE DOBELL: England's key allrounder also insisted that the tourists still believe they can leave Australia with a victory under their belt

Joe Root and Chris Silverwood have the "thorough support" of everyone in the England dressing room, according to Ben Stokes.

Both England's captain and coach have received a huge amount of criticism in recent days after England succumbed to Ashes defeat within 12 days. Silverwood's future as head coach is looking especially insecure, with many commentators presuming he is certain to be sacked.

But for Stokes, at least, they remain the pair to help England rebuild from their Ashes thrashing.

"Captaincy is more than about setting fields, picking the team and making decisions out there in the middle," Stokes said. "A captain is someone you want to go out and play for. Joe Root is someone I always want to play for.

"Chris Silverwood is exactly the same. He's a real players' coach. He stands up for you as individuals and players as well.

^{Chris Silverwood is under enormous pressure in his dual role as head coach and selector (Stu Forster/Getty Images)}

"All the hype in the media recently about their futures, it's your job to write that. At the end of the day, the most important people's opinion are those guys in the dressing room and they've got our thorough support.

"They [Root and Silverwood] know full well they have the support of everyone in there and that's all that matters."

Although the last few weeks have been demanding for Root, Stokes says he has noticed no sense that he could be on the verge of quitting. And, as one of few viable successors, he says he has "no ambition" for the role.

"It's totally Joe's decision if he wants to step down. He shouldn't be forced into doing it. I'm sure Alastair Cook felt the same way. He did it for so long. When he knew his time was up, his time was up. Those discussions haven't been entered anywhere near Joe yet.

"I don't sense that at all with Joe. He's brought this team a long way. He's done some great things. Obviously this series hasn't gone too well. Not from a captaincy point of view but from a team and results point of view.

^{Ben Stokes was the first man out on the third morning at Melbourne, precipitating the collapse that followed (Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)}

"Unfortunately, the captain and coach bear the scrutiny for that but there are 10 other guys out there in the field beside the captain. I've never really had an ambition to be a captain."

Stokes also suggested that England could yet pull off a surprise victory in one of the last couple of Tests. While he accepted there were "not a lot of positives" from England’s performances, he felt they had shown in glimpses that they could compete.

"Coming into the fourth game 3-0 down, there's not a lot of positives," he said. "But we've shown in small stages that we're capable. We've had some really good partnerships with the bat and the ball.

"We know we can compete. But we've not done it for long enough or consistently enough. Australia have managed to get through those periods where we've had the upper hand. It's about doing more than that and putting some pride back into the badge. I think we have a performance in us."

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