In response to criticism that his team was ill-prepared for the Ashes, England cricket coach Brendon McCullum said that his team “trained too much” before going 2-0 down to Australia on Sunday by eight wickets.
After losing the first Test in two days, the tourists played just one pre-series warm-up match and decided to spend more time in the nets instead of sending their best players to a pink-ball tour match in Canberra.
Legendary former players have harshly criticized those decisions, with Ian Botham stating that traveling fans should seek reimbursement from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
But when asked about England’s preparations, McCullum remained unconvinced.
“If anything, we trained too much. We had five intense training sessions leading into this game,” McCullum told the BBC.
“Sometimes there is a tendency to overdo things to make up for it. As we all know in this game it is played in the top two inches. We all have to find a way to ensure that we feel prepared physically, technically and we are ready for the battle, but also to make sure we are fresh and make sure we can make those decisions in the heat of the games.”
McCullum added to Australia’s Channel 7: “I actually feel like we over-prepared to be honest…I think the boys just need a few days off and we probably need to change up a few of the training methods.”
Before the third Test in Adelaide starts on December 16, England’s players will now have four days off at the vacation destination of Noosa.
After just six days in the field, England is facing yet another humiliation after traveling to Australia with great expectations of reclaiming the urn with a first Ashes series victory since 2010–11.
Australia hasn’t lost three straight home Test matches to anyone in 38 years, and England has never overcome a 0-2 deficit.
England did, however, overcome a 0-2 deficit to level the previous series between the teams 2-2 at home two years ago.
