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Covering a wide range of topics related to the Ashes tour and the fallout, Gould and Key said:
there has been no "bust up" between McCullum and Stokes
England do not want McCullum to "completely change", but to "evolve"
behaviour of some players was "unprofessional" and there will be "new expectations"
there is not an "easy fix" to cricket's relationship with alcohol
only 30-40% of this review is "new" and England must stop "relearning old lessons"
A review or report seems to habitually follow an Ashes defeat in Australia. On this occasion, the ECB has resisted changing personnel, possibly against the desire of some sections of England supporters.
Some measures have already been implemented. England used a specialist fielding coach during the white-ball tour of Sri Lanka and T20 World Cup, though Key confirmed additions to the backroom staff would continue on an ad hoc basis.
There was also a midnight curfew imposed on players, while England are recruiting a new national selector and a new member of the board with an intention to boost cricketing expertise.
Beyond those changes, little new information was revealed by Key and Gould – perhaps an admission that the mistakes of the Ashes tour could have been prevented before the tour began.
McCullum and Stokes united as the leaders of the England Test team in 2022. Though both have continued to back each other in public, there was a clear divergence in their messaging in Australia.
Stokes referred to "weak men" in the dressing room, and asked for his players to "show some dog". As his ability to score runs ground to a halt, the captain later suggested opponents have found ways to combat England's attacking style. In contrast, McCullum thought England too easily came away from their methods in Australia.
"At no stage was there any bust up or anything like that," Key told BBC Sport.
"There's this view that it's either blocking or slogging – Ben's for blocking, Brendon's for slogging. That is not the case.
"We still want players to go out there and be aggressive, we still want players who can score runs against the best bowlers in the world. They've just got to be relentless in how they do it. Fundamentally there's alignment in the way we are going."
