England’s managing director of men’s cricket Rob Key has put all his trust and support behind current England coach Brendon McCullum to stay on with the team.
Key admitted that despite England’s struggles in the Ashes, McCullum is the right man to lead the team.
However, he also hinted that jobs are potentially on the line – and that changes in the environment are likely to follow in the aftermath of the series.
England have fallen 3-0 in the series so far, with plenty of questions being asked of the coaches, captain Ben Stokes, and of their tactical approach and preparation ahead of the tour to Australia.
The right man for the job
“A lot of this is our fault,” Key said on the Sky Sports Cricket podcast. “It has always been about putting bowlers under pressure, soaking up pressure, but we have not done that well enough, whether against India in the summer or now.
“Brendon’s record as a coach is excellent.
“When you compare him to other coaches, we haven’t won the big series, but will we have to evolve, adapt, change and become better at all these things we are talking about? Of course we will.
“Do I think he’s the man to do that? If he’s as prepared as I am to do it, he is the right man.
“Brendon is a resilient character. There is nothing I’ve seen from him that suggests he doesn’t want to.”
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Togetherness remains in the camp
On the current team atmosphere among players and coaches, Key added: “When you get these tours, when you’re losing in Australia in an Ashes series, half the team don’t like the captain and the other half don’t like the coach.
“That’s not happening at all on this trip. They have kept the players together remarkably well considering everything that has gone on. But will we have to evolve? Absolutely.”
No immunity from criticism
Key went on to say that a 5-0 defeat Down Under could prove detrimental to plenty, if not most of those in decision-making positions around the team.
“We as a management group have to get better and evolve, and they [the ECB] have to decide if we’re the right people for that,” he added on Sky Sports.
“What I would say, in Brendon [McCullum] and Ben’s [Stokes] case, is that they have been very good.
“If you look at everything they have done under the most intense scrutiny over the last three or four years, they have done brilliant things for English cricket.
“As long as they’re prepared to evolve, they should stay in it – and the ECB can decide what they want to do with me.”
Melbourne awaits
With an Ashes victory in Australia now out of the realm of possibility for Stokes and company, a Test match victory or two may soften the criticism slightly ahead of a packed 2026 schedule.
England, desperately in need of that victory, head to Melbourne for the fourth Ashes Test on Friday, December 26 to Tuesday, December 30.
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SportJustSport writers