Criticism of England, and McCullum in particular, centred on an approach that appeared too casual to stand up to the intensity, rigour and pressure of Test cricket. The former New Zealand captain has previously said he makes “no apologies” for running an “informal” operation.
At the end of the Ashes, McCullum appeared resistant to having change imposed on him, and Key said he does not want the coach to lose his “authenticity”.
“There’s no point keeping Brendon McCullum if you want him to completely change who he is,” said former Kent captain Key.
“All of us have to evolve, we have to get better. It’s wrong to think he doesn’t care, he doesn’t think about everything. Everything he does is to enhance English cricket.”
Allied to accusations of an over-relaxed environment are instances of off-field misdemeanours.
On a holiday to Noosa during the Ashes, a number of players drank heavily for as many as six consecutive days. Opener Ben Duckett was apparently drunk in a video posted online by a member of the public.
At the end of the fifth Test against Australia, it emerged Harry Brook was punched by a nightclub bouncer in Wellington on the white-ball tour of New Zealand that preceded the Ashes. Brook, Jacob Bethell and Josh Tongue are under investigation from the Cricket Regulator over the incident in the New Zealand capital.
Gould said there were “some instances” that the ECB regarded as “significantly unprofessional”.
When Key became director of cricket he removed the curfew, which is now back in place as part of “new expectations” on player behaviour.
England want their culture and environment to be “positive, relaxed and high-performance”, with “better individual and collective decision-making”.
“Cricket’s relationship with alcohol as a global game is not the same as other sports and that’s something we have got to get better at,” said Key.
“It’s not going to be an easy fix. This is not just a problem for the England team, this is throughout the game.
“You can treat everyone like schoolkids, and they rebel. I’m not going to solve this problem just myself, it’s something we need to do as a game.”