England Ashes review: Past captains question accountability for series defeat after Brendon McCullum, Rob Key avoid ECB sacking

Former England captain Michael Atherton believes fans will find it ‘extraordinary’ that no jobs were lost for ‘mistakes’ made during their heavy Ashes defeat in Australia.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chief executive Richard Gould confirmed on Monday that the positions of Ben Stokes, managing director Rob Key and head coach Brendon McCullum were safe, despite a resounding 4-1 series loss Down Under.

Gould said "a lot of consideration" had been put in to keeping the same personnel - following a "thorough review" into the defeat, despite England's preparation, selection and behaviour coming under scrutiny.

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When questioning Key on the Sky Sports Cricket podcast, Atherton said: "From the perspective of people out there, they will find it extraordinary that there's been no accountability for the mistakes made in The Ashes.

"It's not necessarily bloodlust people want, but I think they want genuine accountability. If there's no change to key personnel, they will argue, 'well, there is no accountability'.

"In part, one of the criticisms of the players over that two or three-year period is that inadequate performance doesn't lead to accountability. That's the same at the top, it would seem to be."

Key admitted mistakes were made and promised a change of approach to selection, having described the period since the series loss as 'as tough a three months I think I've had in my career, if not my life'.

When questioning Key on what England had learned, former captain Nasser Hussain said: "You've talked about the learnings, but if I was an England fan sitting in there, I would have gone, 'this is your job for before the Ashes, not two months after the Ashes'.

"Why are you learning now? Why weren't you doing these things? Why weren't all these things put in place? Have you been marking your own homework in the last few months?"

Key and McCullum 'lucky to survive?

Gould insisted football's hire-and-fire culture was not a useful model for England's cricket future, despite Key and McCullum's predecessors - Chris Silverwood and Ashley Giles - departing after a 4-0 away Ashes drubbing four years earlier.

Former England opener Geoffrey Boycott bemoaned a lack of accountability in the ECB after not making changes, suggesting Key and McCullum had "sabotaged" the Ashes campaign.

"Like me, cricket supporters will be asking how ‌McCullum and Key could make so many bad decisions on the Australian tour and yet the chief executive of ​English cricket decides there is no need to make any changes. Where is the accountability?" Boycott wrote in the Telegraph.

"I'm sure they promised him they would do better, ​but leopards don't change their spots, so it looks like we will ⁠get the same type of Test cricket.

"In trying to create a free-spirited team, he has made them too comfortable and complacent. They know they will not get dropped, whatever their performances ‌or conduct on or off the field.

"It looks like a boys' club where, once you are in the team, it is hard to get out... competition for places is the lifeblood of sport. Complacency in a team does not breed a good appetite to excel."

Former England captain Michael Vaughan added on the BBC's Test Match Special: "I think they [Key and McCullum] are very, very lucky [to keep their jobs]. 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]."

Ashes review 'will anger fans'

Sky Sports News reporter James Cole:

"Ashes review action-points were presented to the media at Lord's in the form of a slide-show presentation. It was very corporate. All the right noises were made; key words emphasised: "learnings", "evolve" and "culture" featured heavily.

"There was, though, little new information. And all the proposed improvements around 'preparation', 'performance' and 'environment' were obvious ones that should have been implemented long before the Ashes debacle.

"The fact that no one has paid for the woeful winter with their job will anger a lot of cricket fans. As much as Rob Key insists there's no drinking culture and the team environment isn't too computable and cliquey, that is the wider perception.

"Key admitted that the demand for consistency in selection had been taken too far, resulting in a failure to act on poor form. This summer some hard selection decisions will need to be made. A more sensible approach to batting will be needed; and most of all, England must start winning again.

"Bazball is broken. McCullum and Stokes must rewrite the playbook. Series wins over New Zealand and Pakistan will go a long way to restoring fans' faith. But you sense the team's approach, particularly when batting in pressured situations, will be key."

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