3 min readMar 25, 2026 11:47 PM IST
The England Cricket Board (ECB) continues to find itself at the receiving end of criticism after handing a clean chit to head coach Brendon McCullum, following a disastrous Ashes series in which England lost 4–1 in emphatic fashion during the five-match Test tour of Australia last summer.
ECB chief executive Richard Gould recently confirmed that the positions of captain Ben Stokes, managing director Rob Key, and McCullum are safe following a thorough review conducted by the board.
Former England captain Michael Atherton expressed surprise at the decision. He believes fans will find it “extraordinary” that no jobs were lost for the “mistakes” made during the Ashes defeat.
“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,” Atherton said while speaking to Key on the Sky Sports Cricket podcast.
“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.’ One of the criticisms of the players over that two- or three-year period is that inadequate performance doesn’t lead to accountability. It would seem that’s the case at the top as well,” he added.
Another former England captain, Nasser Hussain, was also displeased with the decision. He said: “You’ve talked about the learnings, but if I was an England fan sitting 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?”
McCullum faced stern scrutiny over his position after a disastrous Ashes campaign in Australia. McCullum’s case was further undermined by reports of off-field incidents. Following the horrendous Ashes, the ECB launched a review process of the team.
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Earlier, former England captain and legendary batter Geoffrey Boycott had also criticised Gould and Key, questioning the process behind the conclusion that McCullum would remain in his role.
“The worst pre-planned Ashes tour in my lifetime, and nobody is held to account or to blame? In the famous words of John McEnroe: ‘You cannot be serious.’ The review was done by Richard Gould, the England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive, who has never played county or Test match cricket, and he decided nobody is to blame.”
“What planet is he on? Is he oblivious to what the majority of former England players and cricket journalists are saying? Gould says it will not be a popular decision to keep Brendon McCullum, and he is damn right,” Boycott wrote in his column for The Telegraph.
