Nasser Hussain reflected on Brendon McCullum’s response to criticism following England’s Ashes debacle, after the head coach took offence to remarks made by the former captain.

England arrived Down Under with a lot of expectations under the regime of Ben Stokes and McCullum, but ended up conceding the Ashes urn in just 11 days -- the joint-second quickest in more than a century.

The Three Lions suffered back-to-back eight-wicket losses in Perth and Brisbane, before facing an 82-run defeat at the Adelaide Oval.

While the visitors salvaged some pride with a gutsy four-wicket victory at MCG, Australia bounced back to win the Ashes finale in Sydney by five wickets.

McCullum has been facing backlash since the 1-4 Ashes humiliation, with questions being raised over his methods. With Bazball philosophy failing to hold up in challenging conditions, former cricketers have suggested the English management to ditch the high-risk approach.

In the aftermath of the defeat at the SCG, Hussain minced no words as he asked McCullum on whether he was willing to tweak his approach or continue backing the same style of cricket despite the disappointing results against Australia and India both at home and away conditions.

“Can you personally change, or is it the Brendon McCullum philosophy? Can you change your ways, or is this how you’re going to play?” Hussain asked.

In response, McCullum said: “I sort of take offence to that, to be honest, Nas. I have conviction in my methods, but I’m not rigid in my beliefs."

In his column for The Athletic, Hussain revisited his tense exchange with McCullum and wrote: "McCullum took umbrage when I asked him on Thursday if he was willing to change. His point was that he has always been prepared to evolve, but whether he means it will be key now. He is right to have conviction in his methodology, but there also needs to be a realisation that he and England need to adapt at times."

Hussain went on to suggest that direction from above and fresh voices within the setup could be crucial if England are to move forward.

"Will he be happy for someone above to tell him he has to change? He will have to be if he wants to stay in the job. Then he will have to demonstrate that he really is willing to do so and get other voices in his dressing room," he added.

England’s next Test assignment is scheduled against New Zealand at home in June, leaving the side with a lengthy window to reassess and work on their shortcomings.