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 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 saying it would cover "tour planning and preparation, individual performance and behaviours and our ability to adapt and respond effectively”.
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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.
He told the BBC: "I’m not against assistance, but I also have a firm belief in how to get the best out of these players."
Brendon McCullum has suggested he would not be content 'being told what to do'
|GETTY
He added: "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.”
The defeat raises serious questions about whether the "Bazball".
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England's troubled Ashes campaign concluded in predictable fashion at Sydney | GETTYThe final day had an end-of-term atmosphere, despite Australia losing five wickets while chasing 160.
Josh Tongue stepped up admirably in the absence of an injured Stokes, finishing with figures of three for 42 and demonstrating precisely why leaving him out of the opening two Tests proved misguided.
The fast bowler dismissed the dangerous Travis Head for 29 when the Australian slogged a catch into the air, then removed Jake Weatherald for 34 with a bouncer before bowling the retiring Usman Khawaja off an inside edge for just six.
Stokes himself defied an adductor strain that had effectively ended his match on day four, standing stiffly at slip despite being unable to bowl — a captain determined to remain with his team until the bitter end.
Five things to know about The Ashes | PAHead and Mitchell Starc established themselves as the dominant forces throughout the series, performing at a level no English player came close to matching.
Head's brief cameo in the final innings brought his remarkable series tally to 629 runs at an average of 62.90, while Starc collected two more wickets to finish with 31 dismissals at just 19.93.
The pair proved instrumental at every stage of the contest, and their contributions in the closing moments of the Sydney Test provided a fitting conclusion to their outstanding campaigns.
Both Australians operated in a class entirely separate from anything England could offer across the entire tour.
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