Brendon McCullum open to ‘tweaks’ but keen to stand firm as Ashes fallout begins

Brendon McCullum has suggested he would not be content “being told what to do” in a bid to retain his role as England’s head coach as the fallout from a 4-1 Ashes defeat begins.

A five-wicket defeat in Sydney closed the book on a dreadful tour that saw high hopes of bringing the urn back home dissolve into another heavy loss Down Under.

It continued a dismal streak spanning four separate campaigns, during which they have have lost 17 and drawn two of their last 20 Tests in Australia.

The England and Wales Cricket Board wasted no time confirming a formal review was in motion, with chief executive Richard Gould stating it would cover “tour planning and preparation, individual performance and behaviours and our ability to adapt and respond effectively”.

He also added: “We will implement the necessary changes over the coming months.”

It is thought the leadership group of McCullum, managing director Rob Key and captain Ben Stokes will be asked to accept some significant changes to the way they have operated over the last three-and-a-half years. But McCullum was lukewarm about the prospect of taking orders from above.

“I’m not against assistance, but I also have a firm belief in how to get the best out of these players,” he told BBC’s Test Match Special.

“I’ll look at it individually and say, ‘right, what could I have done better?’ and ‘what could I improve on?’ Am I for being told what to do? Of course I’m not. But at the same time, I’m not pig-headed [enough] to think there’s not some areas that we can improve on, once we digest what’s unfolded over the last two months and start to plot and plan a way forward.

“If you’re the man in the chair to do so then you do so with a similar conviction in your methods – albeit with a couple of tweaks.”