Former England captain Michael Vaughan emphasised that a victory in the fifth and final Test in Sydney, starting January 4, is crucial for the continuation of the Brendon McCullum-Ben Stokes era to salvaging some pride.
England's sole win came in the fourth Test at Melbourne, ending a 15-year drought for a Test win in Australia after conceding the series 3-1.
Vaughan overlooked England's Melbourne triumph as a "lottery", given the match's rapid two-day conclusion.
“I think it’s a massive game for England [in Sydney]. It’s nice to win a game of cricket, but let’s be honest, it was a complete lottery in Melbourne. It wasn’t a proper game of Test match cricket. For the future, and for this management in particular, they need to win a strong game of cricket here one that’s not a two-dayer,” Vaughan said, as quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald.
“For this management to carry on, the likes of Ben and Baz – I’m pretty sure they will carry on – but I think they need a good week for that to be absolutely rock solid. There’s a huge appetite within the group to keep [McCullum] on. But fundamentally, if they get pummelled in Sydney, there needs to be some honest conversations,” Vaughan added.
Under Brendon McCullum's tenure, England has seen a momentous turnaround, winning 26 of 45 Tests, including a historic 3-0 series whitewash in Pakistan.
Vaughan said England should avoid persistent changes but must actually address their mistakes from the tour, alerting that rejecting faults would be a larger issue.
"I think chopping and changing is not necessarily the right thing for English cricket. Whatever happens at the end of this tour, they've got to accept that they got a lot of things wrong. If they're going to be so stubborn to think that they were a bit unlucky, or things didn't quite go the way they wanted ... well, we have a problem going forward. The key is maturity and that's the one thing that I think this team can be a lot better at, in terms of the way they play and talk. If they can accept that, I have no problem with the management staying the same," Vaughan said.