Right now, that leaves managing director Rob Key looking the most vulnerable, simply because he is the easiest for the bosses – ultimately ECB chief executive Richard Gould and chair Richard Thompson – to get rid of.
I do think as a trio they are far too similar.
When England have been at their best, they have had opposing characters like Michael Vaughan as captain and coach Duncan Fletcher in 2005, or the stern Eoin Morgan and relaxed Trevor Bayliss, who won the 2019 World Cup.
Key is a lovely fellow but he might consider whether he has let McCullum and Stokes have too much of what they want.
Stokes is a great on-field captain and McCullum has a terrific attitude as coach, but they needed to be steered in the right direction when it comes to preparation and planning.
Instead of challenging that, being someone to will keep Stokes and McCullum’s feet to the fire, Key signed it off.
There needs to be someone with a more old-school mindset to challenge ideas and keep an eye on the change, with Alec Stewart one very obvious candidate after all the fine work he has done at Surrey.
England have decent players like Zak Crawley, who played beautifully in scoring 85 yesterday after struggling for two Tests, or Jamie Smith.
Yes, he played a poor shot on Sunday but he made a really nice 60 in the second innings, having struggled so badly beforehand.
That simply goes back to the preparation.
I said half-jokingly after the second Test in Brisbane that England would play well now in Adelaide because they had had their two warm-ups.
Look what happened.
Had they batted like they did here from their position of strength in the second innings on day two of the series in Perth, they’d have won and we could be looking at a very different situation.
And if Stokes and McCullum are in as reflective mood as it appears, they must also consider the environment in their own dressing room.
We do not get to sit in the dressing room so never truly know what goes on, but do players feel able to speak up? Is anyone able to go against the model?
