LONDON: Former England captain Michael Vaughan has urged head coach Brendon McCullum and director Rob Key to resign following Ben Stokes’s retirement from international cricket.

All-rounder Stokes, 35, announced the end of his reign as England captain and the finish of his celebrated international career on Sunday during a crushing 160-run defeat by New Zealand in the third Test at Trent Bridge, a loss that condemned his team to a 2-1 series loss.

This latest reverse meant England have now won just two of their last 10 Test matches following defeats by Australia and New Zealand and a home draw with India.

Vaughan feels “enough is enough”, with England’s 2005 Ashes-winning skipper telling the Stick to Cricket podcast: “When I saw that on the fourth evening last week, I went ‘nah, we can’t accept that’ as ex-players in the game.

“And it was that period that I watched and I went ‘nah, enough is enough’.

English cricket has got to be better than that.”

Key and McCullum, a former New Zealand captain, were under pressure following England’s woeful 4-1 Ashes series loss in Australia concluded in January, with Vaughan adding: “I think Baz McCullum is a great guy but he’s not a great coach and for England — as ex-players and fans of English cricket — we should be aiming to be the number-one team in the world and at the minute we are ranked seventh.

“We’ve won two games in 10 matches, and those two wins have come at Lord’s on a cesspit and the MCG [Melbourne Cricket Ground] which was a two-dayer, so the only two games that we’ve won have been on farmers’ fields [poor pitches].

“That can’t be right.

“I want change. I’ve seen enough. I care passionately about English cricket and I hate watching that and you can’t tell me that the 20-odd thousand [fans] aren’t thinking the same,” insisted 51-year-old former Yorkshire batsman Vaughan.

“When you’ve got the opposition in your own back yard laughing at you, enough is enough. We need to move on.”

Key succeeded Ashley Giles as managing director of cricket in 2022 and oversees the coaching and selection set-up.

Key brought in McCullum as England’s Test coach in May 2022 but the New Zealander was then appointed across all three formats in September 2024.

England’s results in white-ball cricket have suffered too, with Vaughan suggesting former England batsman Key’s position should also be in doubt.

“I’m so frustrated watching it, it’s laughable,” said Vaughan. You’ve got to say that Rob Key’s job is on the line. It has to be on the line. It wouldn’t surprise me if Rob Key goes.

“They’re not being well coached. You are telling me if [former England coach] Andy Flower was in charge…this team would be getting the results they are getting? No chance.”

England’s next Test assignment is a three-match home series against Pakistan in August-September.

Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2026