For England, if the message has gone too far, what about the messenger?

In the aftermath of England's 2022 Test series win over New Zealand, the first under Brendon McCullum - and only their second since the start of 2021 - the newly appointed head coach shared one thought with his new charges.

"Take it too far".

England had gunned down three chases in succession and confidence was high after a dispiriting winter in Australia, and then the Caribbean. Rather than rest on newly found laurels, McCullum urged them to go deeper.

Indulge that kid in the playground who dreamed of playing Test cricket for England again. Plan as if you'll live forever, but live as if you'll die tomorrow. Run towards the danger.

And here we are, four years on, back in Australia where those seeds of a whole new world under McCullum were sown after a harrowing 4-0 loss. On the eve of the final Test in Sydney, England nurse a result not as bad - 3-1 down, with another consolation win up for grabs, starting on Sunday - but theoretically worse.

For the players told to indulge their inner child have developed immature streaks that have come to the fore at the worst time. The lack of planning led to a quick 11-day death. And danger found them before they could break into a sprint, playing their best cricket of the first three Tests in the last of those in Adelaide, before an unfulfilling Russian roulette victory in the fourth at Melbourne.

As the 2025-26 Ashes tour enters its final throes, it feels appropriate to wonder if the message has been taken too far. And if it's time to change that, it is time to change the messenger.

If England won at the MCG for Ben Stokes, then victory at the SCG feels like something for McCullum. The former almost an apology to their talismanic captain for failing in their biggest assignment, despite all the protection he afforded them. The latter would be belated appreciation for the freedoms botched which, ultimately, has brought McCullum's end a little closer.

It may not be an end yet, unless this match at the SCG goes badly enough to make a 4-1 scoreline feel like a whitewash. Next month's T20 World Cup and compensation payouts add complexity to McCullum's situation, though both can be overcome. The true complication comes on the fox, chicken and grain situation at the top of English men's Test cricket.

That Stokes has tethered himself to McCullum as the only coach he can work with wholeheartedly opens the door to Stokes giving up (or mailing in) the captaincy if McCullum is sacked. That could then make managing director Rob Key the fall guy, in which case the ECB is likely to bring in a disciplinarian type - Alec Stewart, for example - who will offer stricter parameters as a reaction to this loose loss, thus in turn forcing McCullum to reconsider and, by proxy, Stokes.

Granted, the two options are not simply either a bloodbath or Stokes thanking the ECB for leaving them with his favourite coach. The reality is the ECB does not seem overly keen on wholesale changes in personnel. You know the next Ashes are only 18 months away, right? Let's not be hasty. But there is a broader sense of the need for a sterner hand on the tiller. More guidance. More discipline.

That's not to say McCullum cannot be that firm hand. Though he and Stokes are essentially a "good cop, good cop" combo, McCullum ends up taking on more of the "bad cop" bits. He is the one that tells players they have been dropped, and occasionally takes them to one side for a stern word when they are not doing their bit, which can range from issues around attitude, training or indeed performance. According to those with recent experience of the England dressing room, there is a "one strike" policy with McCullum that keeps everyone in check.

But the issues that have borne out on this trip are of a team who have seemingly regressed, particularly since the change in the playing group at the start of the 2024 summer.

It was instructive that on Friday, Zak Crawley - 64 Tests to his name - said he has "never" seen himself as a senior player, and nor does "anyone in the team". Much like England on this tour, one of McCullum's main pet projects was close to happening upon something worthwhile but, ultimately, missed.

Crawley, England's leading run-scorer heading into the final Test, is one example of a player given room to grow but who has not really grown. Some have over-indulged the trappings of a McCullum England without paying it back when it counts. In ridding batters of their fear of getting out or bowlers leaking too many runs, they have become impervious to the realities of consequence in a sport with margins too thin to simply coast.

While much of that can be put down to a lack of professionalism within the set-up, it ultimately falls on McCullum. He arrived and stripped down the staff - among them a nutritionist, a full-time bowling coach and a wicketkeeping coach - and in doing so whittled down some necessary high-performance elements.

The blind spots in the system are made all the more glaring by full-time assistant coaches Marcus Trescothick and Jeetan Patel. Being forced into various media appearances to cover for the players, they have shown themselves to be representative of the malaise, persisting with dead cat routines in a failed attempt to distract from the horse limping through Australia these last two months.

It is clear England fans have lost faith in the process this team prided themselves on - and, by proxy, McCullum. The Kiwi's approval rating tanked when he referred to being England head coach as a "pretty good gig" after defeat in Adelaide that officially ended the tourist's Ashes hopes, as if it was a dime-a-dozen role. But much like his "take it too far" comments way back when, there was a little more behind it.

McCullum's casual nature in professional settings is a bit of a defense mechanism. It is his way of dissipating pressure, including on himself. But the use of the word "gig" spoke to another principle he wanted to instil in 2022.

He wanted to make Test cricket have all the pros of franchise cricket - exotic destinations, enjoyable, well-paid - with the over-arching pro of soul-nourishing cricket for your country. To turn the England creams into a cape, and more appealing than franchise maroons, magentas and teals.

To a point, he has. That Jofra Archer and Mark Wood dug deep to make it on this trip - even if they only managed four Tests between them - spoke to those merits. Heck, it is also one of the reasons Stokes has forgone franchise opportunities - even telegraphing this week that he may miss 2026's edition of The Hundred - to play as much Test cricket as his body will allow.

And McCullum, too. There is no doubt this job gives him immense pride and, whisper it, may be to him what he has sought to effuse to his players; meaningful, and worth it.

The SCG will be McCullum's 46th Test in charge. And he won't want it to be his last.