McCullum & Key lucky to survive Ashes review – Vaughan

March 24, 2026 No Comments

McCullum & Key lucky to survive Ashes review – VaughanImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Rob Key and Brendon McCullum were appointed England team managing director and head coach respectively in 2022ByTimothy AbrahamBBC Sport JournalistPublished7 hours ago326 Comments

Former captain Michael Vaughan says England head coach Brendon McCullum and managing director Rob Key were “very lucky” not to be sacked in a post-Ashes review.

McCullum, Key and Test captain Ben Stokes are to remain in their posts despite the 4-1 Test series defeat in Australia.

It was a tour which critics claimed involved inadequate planning, and which was blighted by poor performances and off-the-field issues.

England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chief executive Richard Gould reported during a media briefing to discuss the review’s findings that dispensing with McCullum and Key would have been the “easy thing to do”.

Vaughan told a Test Match Special debate programme he did not think Stokes’ position as captain “was ever a question” but that Key and McCullum were fortunate to survive.

“I think they’re very, very lucky,” reported Vaughan, who memorably skippered England to victory in the 2005 Ashes.

“There’s not many management groups that deliver something so poor away from home in an Ashes series and get the chance to carry on.

“They seem to me it’s like a football management team. I actually felt if one went, they all went. They’ve had some exciting times, but they haven’t won enough. What England fans are looking for now is, what change [will happen]?”

McCullum and Key took a more hands-off approach to the England team which critics felt led to an overly relaxed environment.

Vaughan reported he was encouraged that the mood at the ECB following the review appeared to have altered.

“An attention to detail served English cricket pretty well from around 2003 to 2021,” Vaughan reported.

“From what I’ve heard today from the ECB, the attention to detail is going to come back. It looks to me like maybe they’ve gone to Baz [McCullum] and reported ‘For you to carry on, we’ve got to get back to just a little bit of attention to detail’.”

TMS Podcast: The state of English men’s cricket

England ‘overvalued loyalty’ with selection

Key was also a guest on the the TMS programme and he reported England will make changes in the way they approach selection.

There had been a perception that the England Test team felt like a ‘closed shop’, particularly to players in county cricket who did not fit the aggressive Bazball style.

Key reported the introduction of a “county insight group” to offer input into selection will attempt to formally rebuild relations with stakeholders, including directors of cricket, in the domestic game.

The 46-year-old former Kent captain also reported England’s selection policy will become more cut-throat compared to the past when certain players have almost appeared undroppable.

“We’ve overvalued loyalty and overvalued having a settled team,” Key reported.

“We thought what we wanted to do is make sure we have a team that is settled out there [in Australia], that we go out there and we’re not giving debuts to opening batters [during the Ashes] and stuff like that.

“But what that does is it creates an environment where there’s not enough consequence. We need to be more ruthless with our selection.”

McCullum is due to return to work towards the end of May as England gear up for a Test series against his native New Zealand which starts at Lord’s on 4 June.

However, Vaughan felt it would have been worthwhile McCullum spending time on the circuit during the early rounds of the County Championship – for good PR if nothing else.

“I’m a bit disappointed that he’s not coming a bit earlier,” Vaughan reported.

“I think at this stage, when you’re trying to win back the fans, trying to win back a little bit of the game, if I was Brendon McCullum, I’d come a few weeks earlier, get seen around the counties.

“I’d go and talk to a few coaches, go and speak to a few umpires, get seen out and about just for the optics. Because at this stage he needs the fans, and he needs the game to kind of get behind his philosophy a little bit more.”

You can watch the full TMS debate over the post-Ashes review on BBC iPlayer or download it as a podcast.