This has been my 10th tour covering England in Australia and has been, quite comfortably, the most disappointing. Record numbers of people have come to watch, which illustrates the massive interest there has been. Everyone, me included, thought this would be a hard-fought series that would go down to the wire.

Rather than it being a series to remember, this has been a real let down and it ends, like so many tours before, with the English team and game under the microscope. England effectively faced an Australia second XI throughout, won four of the five tosses and they blew it - a 4-1 series defeat confirmed by the fifth Test loss in Sydney.

You do not have to look far for answers. England coach Brendon McCullum has already admitted it. Forget the batting in Perth or bowling in Adelaide, I go back to 24 July 2025 as the moment England lost this series. I remember how furious I was that day - the day pre-series preparations of nets and one intra-squad warm-up were announced - because we all knew England's plans were not sufficient to win an Ashes series here.

It beggars belief it was signed off by those at the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). Whoever did so, whether director of cricket Rob Key, chief executive Richard Gould or someone else, should lose their job. Selfishly, you never know how many more of these tours you are going to work on. That is why I was furious but also upset.

But thousands of England fans, who I have spent most evenings talking to, have invested their life savings in coming out here. Their feeling is not disappointment. They are angry and deserve better. With the soft dismissals and dropped catches, they have watched a team that is so ill-disciplined it is embarrassing. Compare that to Australia, who catch everything, give you nothing with the ball and go on and get big individual scores.

The ECB now owes it to England's supporters to come up with some explanations. It seems McCullum is going to be given the opportunity to turn things around, assuming he agrees to change his ways. I just do not think that is likely to happen. He played and captained this way with New Zealand. He coaches and lives his life in this relaxed manner. McCullum is very good company, a decent man who did good work in those early years in charge, but it has been shown that his methods do not work with this set of players in Test cricket.

Bazball has not been good for Ollie Pope, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith or Gus Atkinson to name a few. They have been a bit scrambled by what is expected of them. There needs to be much more flexibility around playing more games of cricket and a greater emphasis on county cricket, where players learn their game. Does McCullum even believe that is the way to go?

Whatever happens there, the one England must keep in place is Ben Stokes as captain. They cannot afford for McCullum to go and Stokes to follow suit. Yes, he has been as much part of the mantra as McCullum, but his comments in this series have shown he wants more.

I do not think he has had a great series as captain. Why Josh Tongue was not given the new ball sooner than the final day of the series I do not know and some of Stokes' fielding positions or tactical decisions have been off. But he is the best leader England have. Certainly Brook, Stokes' vice-captain, has shown he is a million miles from being suitable to lead England's Test team.

Brook batted irresponsibly from the start, has not learned and now needs to really go away and look at his game. If he does not, he will fall well short of what he is capable of, which would be a real waste. When it comes to the other changes, I hope we have not seen the last of Pope because he is a talented batsman. England have to move on from Will Jacks, who is not a good enough bowler to be the sole spinner in a Test attack.

The real interesting one is wicketkeeper Smith. Who will be behind the stumps for England's first Test next summer? The way Smith has shrivelled here, with 211 runs across 10 innings at an average of 23.44, as well as dropped catches, is a matter of serious concern.

In truth, the only players who can leave the tour with their heads held high are Tongue and Jacob Bethell. Brydon Carse was given the wrong role - he is someone who comes on first change and runs in hard while bowling long spells rather than an opening bowler - but deserves credit for the way he continued to charge in throughout five Tests.

Bethell's 154 in Sydney was an innings of someone who has played 50 Tests rather than five. Brook should take a leaf out of his book when trying to work out how to play proper Test innings. After a tour that began with so much hope, there is very little to cheer.

Jonathan Agnew was speaking to BBC Sport's Matthew Henry.