Australia have retained the urn following three emphatic victories at Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide.

In the third Test, England managed to extend proceedings to a fifth day for the first time in the series, chasing an imposing target of 435 before falling 82 runs short.

The experience has proved humbling for McCullum’s side, whose aggressive ‘Bazball’ philosophy has been systematically dismantled by Australia’s superior quality.

The squad has faced criticism for an overly relaxed approach to their build-up, including playing just one warm-up fixture against the England Lions on an unsuitable slow wicket.

Former England captains were among those questioning the team’s decision to decline a day-night practice match ahead of the floodlit second Test in Adelaide.

A mid-series trip to the beach resort of Noosa also drew scrutiny from pundits and ex-players alike.

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McCullum had previously dismissed such concerns, at one point claiming his team had “overprepared” for the second Test.

However, the head coach has now changed his position and accepted his portion of responsibility for the series defeat.

He said: “You look back on some things as a coach, of course you do, and ultimately you are responsible for how you get your side ready and how you prepare them.

“I had conviction, we had conviction, in our methods – not just leading into the first Test but also in between Tests.”

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He added: “I look back now and think, ‘did we need more leading into the first and did we need less leading into the second?’.”

“They are the changes you look back on over time and say would I do it differently? Retrospectively, we’ve lost 3-0 so you would probably say there was room for change there.

“Again, you put your hand up as a coach and say you might not have got that right. At the time I felt it would give us our best chance because it has previously. But sitting here 3-0, it didn’t work.”

Skipper Ben Stokes, who had spoken on the eve of the series about his dreams of becoming an Ashes winning captain, has been stung by events of recent weeks.

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He has taken on a sizeable workload, issued repeated rallying cries to see more from his side and eventually come up empty handed.

But, with two games still to play, he vowed to keep going to the well.

He said: “It’s hurts and it sucks. It’s very disappointing knowing that we can’t achieve what we set out to do here.

“It’s a pretty emotional time for me in the dressing room and for the guys, players, management, backroom stuff.

“I hate living in hindsight because you can never change what you have done… it’s what you do out there that counts and we’ve not been able to stand up to what Australia have thrown at us.

He added: “We’ve not been able to stand up to the barrage of execution from Australia.

“But we still have two games left in the series and a hell of a lot to play for, as individuals and as a team.

“We’re not going to turn around and kick the stumps over because we have so much more to play for.”

At 34 years old and with serious wear and tear on his body, Stokes is highly unlikely to be around when England next visit these parts in four years.

But he is centrally contracted for the next 18 months meaning one last chance to reclaim the Ashes urn for his country on home soil in 2027.

Asked if he had the energy and desire to continue leading the team, he offered one word: “Absolutely.”