Australia have retained the Ashes with a dominant 82-run victory over England in the third Test in Adelaide on Sunday. With the Ashes already out of reach, England now face the task of limiting the damage, beginning with the Boxing Day Test at the MCG.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cClearly, we\u2019ve mucked up on the big occasions. Whether that was the home Ashes series or whether that was last summer against India, where we should have won the series, the big ones have eluded us,\u201d Key told reporters at the MCG on Tuesday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cThe truth is we haven\u2019t done that well enough for a while. There\u2019s been some brilliant moments along the way and I still feel like there\u2019s plenty of life in this whole thing, but we have to evolve. We have to make sure that we\u2019re doing things better. You don\u2019t mind losing, the regret is that you\u2019ve not played anything like your best.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cThat\u2019s my view on it but, as you know, these things are taken out of people\u2019s hands a lot of the time. The decision really for the ECB will be whether or not they want to rip it up and start again, or whether they want to evolve and whether we\u2019re the right people to do that,\" he said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
After England lost 4-0 four years ago, this has been the first away series loss of the Bazball era following the appointments of Brendon McCullum as head coach and Ben Stokes as captain in 2022.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Despite the scrutiny, Key continues to back McCullum, whom he appointed as Test coach in 2022 before broadening his remit to all formats at the start of this year.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
McCullum has already indicated that he wants to continue in the role, and Key remains convinced he is the right man for the job.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Despite the scrutiny, Key continues to back McCullum, whom he appointed as Test coach in 2022 before broadening his remit to all formats at the start of this year.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"We\u2019ve had three games here where they\u2019re adapting slowly, and I don\u2019t think personally that\u2019s because we need a fresh voice or they\u2019re not listening. Sometimes the opposition is just bloody good,\u201d he said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n