Cult or culture? McCullum comes full circle following Ashes review
Hounded by the press from the moment the wheels touch down in Australia. Lose in Perth, lose in Brisbane, surrender the series before Christmas. Drink too much.
Then comes the review. It leads to this: administrators gathering at Lord's in the spring to tell us where it all went wrong, what they have learned and what they will do better next time. England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chief executive Richard Gould and director of cricket Rob Key have got some 'splainin' to do on Monday.
"Review" was the word Gould used in January. In the lexicon of English cricket, a review usually means a raft of sackings, a meaty document and blaming county cricket. This time is different.
There will not be a 'ta-da', with white smoke rising across St John's Wood. England cannot blame county cricket, because they largely ignored it anyway. They can't rip up the domestic structure, because that was voted on last year.
No one will be sacked. Instead, Gould, Key, coach Brendon McCullum, Test captain Ben Stokes, ECB chair Richard Thompson and everyone else connected to the England team will look inwards, realise they are all collectively to blame and decide they will stick together. They have been confronted with mistakes they could have spotted in November, and certainly would have been aware of by January.