India, March 24 -- Michael Vaughan has added a sharper, harder edge to England's post-Ashes debate, arguing that Brendon McCullum and Rob Key were "very, very lucky" to survive a review that followed one of the team's most damaging tours of Australia in modern times. England have retained McCullum as head coach, Key as managing director, and Ben Stokes as Test captain after a 4-1 Ashes defeat that triggered criticism not only over results but also planning, standards, and the culture around the side.

Speaking on BBC Test Match Special's debate programme, Vaughan made it clear that while he never really saw Stokes' captaincy as the issue, the same protection did not naturally extend to the men running the wider project. England's leadersh...