Ex-England cricket captain Michael Vaughan maintains both head coach Brendon McCullum and managing director Rob Key have been “very, very lucky” to keep their jobs following a disastrous away Ashes defeat.
As well as falling to a 4-1 defeat in Australia, England’s preparation came under scrutiny, as well as selection and player behaviour, following a mid-tour break in Noosa.
After the ECB’s thorough review, McCullum and Key remain, while captain Ben Stokes also continues, but Vaughan was left baffled by the outcome.
Vaughan told the BBC’s Test Match Special: “I think they’re very, very lucky. 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)?”
Key admitted mistakes were made and promised a change of approach to selection.
“We’ve overvalued loyalty and overvalued having a settled team,” he said. “We thought what we wanted to do is make sure we have a team that is settled out there.
“But what that does is it creates an environment where there’s not enough consequence. We need to be more ruthless with our selection.”
Vaughan also expressed disappointment that McCullum will not return to his role until May ahead of a Test series against his native New Zealand starting in early June.
“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,” he added.
PA contributed to this report
