England MD Rob Key said there has been no “big bust-up” between coach Brendon McCullum and Test captain Ben Stokes after the Ashes drubbing as he and ECB CEO Richard Gould explained why the New Zealander has kept his job.

Under McCullum and Stokes, England lost 4-1 in Australia this winter – their sole win came in a remarkable two-day Boxing Day Test in Melbourne – with their preparation and rigidly aggressive playing style criticised and a number of off-field issues arising, some of which Gould described as “unprofessional”.

There appeared a divergence in messaging between coach and captain at points but Key refuted the notion of a major clash and insisted the hierarchy were not looking for a “massive change of philosophy”.

Key said: “You are not asking Brendon to be someone completely different; when you are not authentic as a leader, you are done.

“But what we are all agreed on – Ben, Brendon, myself – is that while we want players who can score, be aggressive and soak up pressure, you have to be relentless, ruthless and smart enough to adapt.

“Ben’s way is maybe slightly more conservative to Brendon’s and that’s absolutely fine. As long as ultimately you all agree on what you want from your players.”

Why England have kept faith with McCullum and his ‘big brain’

England played just one warm-up match ahead of the Ashes – an intra-squad game against the Lions – while a number of batters were dismissed driving on the up on bouncy Australian pitches.

A mid-series beach break in Noosa, between the second Test in Brisbane and third Test in Adelaide, was questioned beforehand, while unverified footage emerged of batter Ben Duckett seemingly drunk during that trip.

That came after white-ball skipper Harry Brook, Jacob Bethell and Josh Tongue went out the night before a one-day international in New Zealand last year, misdemeanours that were made public after the Ashes series loss and before the recent T20 World Cup.

England reached the semi-finals of the World Cup after coming through scares against Associate nations Nepal, Scotland and Italy in round one, with their run eventually ended via seven-run defeat to eventual champions India in a Mumbai.

Gould told reporters at Lord’s on Monday: “Brendon has spoken a lot about informal vs casual.

“Sometimes when he is sat watching the games comments are made about seeing the soles of his feet and you may take the impression he is very casual but that is not what we see.

“There is a big brain that is working through every decision and every action. When you look at the white-ball series, in terms of interactions on pitch with walkie-talkies, trying to impact decisions as the match is going on and adapt to what is happening.”

‘Sacking people would have been the easy thing to do’

Gould continued: “We want to be ready to win the Ashes in 2027. Everything I have heard from Rob Key and Brendon, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook and [men’s performance director] Ed Barney confirms we are all pulling in the same direction and eager to evolve.

“There was a lot of consideration to [making change].

“My old man (former Wimbledon and Wales manager Bobby Gould) was a football manager and sacking was part of the job. It didn’t necessarily do the right thing

“Sometimes moving people on is the easy thing to do and that is not the route we are going to take. It may not be the popular route but we think it is the right route.

“Through the disappointments and difficulties of the Ashes, we have seen a conviction to learn and adapt and a determination to take things forward. People who are hurt but determined to put things right and get revenge in 2027.

“We don’t want to be painted into a corner and it perceived we can only do things one way, either as individuals or as a group. It’s whether we can adapt as a group and we have certainly seen very good evidence that we have many more miles to run with this team.”

Gould added that the Ashes defeat was “still painful” and admitted “we got some things wrong” with the focus now on winning major Test series.

The team have failed to beat Australia or India in a five-match series since McCullum and Stokes took charge in 2022, drawing with those sides at home and being thumped away.

Key: I made a mistake not getting involved with county cricket

An apparent breakdown between the domestic game and the England set-up has been a theme of the ‘Bazball’ era, with Key suggesting there will be a renewed focus on working with the counties.

Players like spinner Shoaib Bashir and seamer Josh Hull have been picked on gutfeel as opposed to county stats.

He said: “I never wanted to get involved with county cricket, never wanted it to feel like England were meddling with the county game. That was a mistake and there is a way to work together better.

“There is no doubt of the talent produced through our system. It has always been the case with some of the guys picked – Marcus Trescothick, Michael Vaughan – that they are not top of the county averages.

“I don’t agree we haven’t picked on county cricket – Liam Dawson, Ben Duckett. Bashir came through a pathway, hadn’t had much of an opportunity and then we saw him in Lions cricket and he got a chance as we thought he was a long-term bet.

“We haven’t been one way in how we have done it and certainly this summer it will be fascinating to see who steps up and looks like they can perform in international cricket. We will pay attention to absolutely everything.”

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