Brendon McCulum and Rob Key set to retain support of ECB

The Australian tour was negatively affected by on- and off-field mistakes.

England were accused of failing to prepare adequately before the first Test, playing only one warm-up match against the England Lions at a club ground in Perth.

England’s alcohol consumption in Australia has been under the spotlight despite the Brook incident on the eve of the third one-day international against New Zealand in Wellington ahead of the Ashes series. Opener Ben Duckett was filmed midway through a series in Noosa by an apparently drunk member of the public while on holiday.

Without a specialist fielding coach, England’s efforts in the Test series were severely hampered by dropped catches.

Since the tour of Australia, England have hired fielding coach Carl Hopkinson for part of the World Cup and the white-ball tour to Sri Lanka. They also imposed a midnight curfew on players and staff.

Luke Wright has stepped down as national selector for the men’s teams but it was a personal decision rather than Ashes-related.

Talks between the ECB and Cricket Australia have resulted in the two bodies agreeing on improved arrangements in preparation for future Ashes series in both countries.

The ECB is planning to make a new non-executive appointment to the board to boost cricket expertise.

Australia’s Test captain Ben Stokes has backed McCullum, who is contracted until autumn 2027.

That support was echoed by Brook on Thursday, who said McCullum should “125%” remain in office.

“I’ve said many times that he’s the best coach I’ve ever had,” Brook said. “Our partnership has been good throughout the competition and since I took over. May it continue for a long time.”