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You can find a telling piece of footage featuring Brendon McCullum and Rob Key. Shot during 2016, it shows the two men in a state of relaxed confidence, joking during a session while talking about the art of hitting.

Their rapport on display is undeniable. It feels like watching a private moment. This is pure McCullum’s mindset: a focus on entering a clear head above all else.

“I try to hit it over there, sometimes over there,” McCullum states with a shrug. When asked regarding his fast hands, his response is: “I don’t really know.”

This is not surprise to learn that a McCullum masterclass is devoid of complex technical detail. The insight lies in hearing a supremely successful batter describe an approach of keeping things simple. He admits his red-ball approach came from due to the fact “in Test cricket I never really had a defensive game that was going to withstanding quality bowling.”

A Fundamental Issue: Can a ‘Vibe’ Coach Run an Ashes Tour?

This raises an essential question: Should you entrust this same ‘masterclasser’ with planning, coach, and detail-manage a gruelling Ashes tour? Furthermore, what if this approach subsequently falters due to inadequate preparation? Should you then task the same person to have another go, to adapt a methodology centred around stripping things away?

At this point, McCullum has begun to feel akin to a corporate guru whose one-trick message has been applied to an entire complex organisation. His role as a valuable culture-setter is clear. But that doesn’t mean he is equipped to oversee all the corporate accounting.

The Case for Accountability

This is precisely why, McCullum must now be held to account under normal rules of success and failure, whatever the final result this weekend. One could make an argument that each side might benefit in the long run by a defeat this final Test.

Yet, it would be an error to get distracted should England secure late-series victory. The fundamental failures remain. The primary job for the leadership involved oversee the environment and prep the details. One cannot reward a failure of planning simply because the talent on the field were good enough to claw it back later on.

Keeping perspective could be difficult if the team win or draw in Sydney. Plenty of side-shows already exist. The host nation's response to losing at the MCG has been misleadingly overblown, including criticism of the pitch and essays about the death of warrior culture. Such noise is all distractingly feelgood for the touring side.

Don’t Be Misled

• Don’t get distracted because the fourth Test was a genuinely good win irrespective of controversy over conditions.
• Don’t look away with the imminent T20 World Cup, an event that seems to appear all too regularly.
• Above all, don’t lose sight of the fact changing the coach does not address the deep-rooted structural problems within the domestic game.

Indeed, the final point is crucial. Hiring of convincing amateurs for top jobs; acceptance of a casual approach, cronyism, and spinning your own shortcuts: this embodies much of what is wrong in cricket.

The Precedent of Poor Preparation

Hence accountability is non-negotiable. What message does it set if it turns out you can get away with not having proper warm-up games, going without a dedicated fielding coach, or not organising a day-night practice game for players unfamiliar with the conditions?

Add to this all the fine detail, including the curious case of the young spinner, who was replaced by a part-time all-rounder. If such oversights are ignored, it implies that standards are meaningless.

Prior to the final Test, attempts to rewrite history have started. Some suggest it was acceptable to skip practice games because England did it previously and won. This logic overlooks key differences, namely that past opponents were also underprepared, whereas Australia were fully prepared. Just because you succeeded once without studying does not mean abandoning revision altogether.

The Captain’s Verdict and The Future

The primary case for retaining McCullum and Key is that lessons can be learned from this experience. The idea that McCullum could add meticulous planning to his inspirationalism is intriguing. His super-strength has been simplification. How would a detail-oriented McCullum even function?

Ben Stokes is now pivotal. His mid-series comments seemed an urgent effort to introduce some substance into the loose philosophy. He will provide to give his own tour review. A clear, impartial account might easily leave McCullum in serious trouble, and the director forced to admit a lack of oversight.

The final Test offers an opportunity to win again. But it should not be allowed to cloud these facts. There is an imperative for accountability, for jeopardy, and for a forensic eye on how the tour was run. This is a sport that still matters.