Ben Stokes was involved in an awkward exchange with Jonathan Agnew as the England captain was pressed on the decision to hold their biggest names out of a pink-ball tour game ahead of the second Test.

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England have been slammed as “amateurish” for the decision, with just three of the squad to join the second-tier England Lions to play a two-day day-night clash against a Prime Minister’s XI this weekend in Canberra.

Only Jacob Bethell, Matthew Potts and Josh Tongue — none of whom played in Perth — will feature despite England’s first Test batting implosions with the likes of Joe Root, Zak Crawley and Harry Brook all flopping.

The rest of the squad will instead head to Brisbane ahead of the second pink-ball Test on December 4.

Former Ashes-winning captain Michael Vaughan said he was “staggered” by the decision, calling it “amateurish” in his column for English broadsheet The Telegraph.

Former England quick Agnew, now a respected broadcaster, was similarly gobsmacked at why the team would not jump at getting in some pink-ball practice.

“It is a bizarre situation,” he said on the BBC.

“Just because Australia are accustomed to these matches and England are not, it does not mean England cannot win.

“But there is a huge question about whether England would be better prepared playing a game under lights than spending time in the nets in Brisbane.”

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Agnew quizzed Stokes on the decision in the immediate aftermath of the first Test, asking if there would be a change to the plan.

“We’ve operated in this way, where we know that the preparation that we put in is correct in the way which works for us,” Stokes said.

“We prepare incredibly well, we work incredibly hard every single day that we get the opportunity to work on our game.

“We believe and we trust in our process. If the results don’t go in our favour, that’s not going to differ, because hand on heart, we know we put every ounce of ourselves into our training and we know and believe this is the best way for this team to operate.”

When further pressed on the issue by Agnew, things started to get a bit more awkward.

“I’ve just answered that question, Aggers,” Stokes replied.

Australia are masters of pink-ball Tests, winning 13 out of 14 matches under lights, making them strong favourites to go 2-0 up in the series.

England coach Brendon McCullum said in the aftermath of the Perth humiliation that they would not be changing their tactics.

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“We’ve got to work out whether that extra cricket is the key, or making sure that camaraderie is tight and morale doesn’t drop,” McCullum said in reference to the Canberra game.

“We’ve just got to work out what the pros and cons of all that are.”

Not everyone thinks England are making a mistake over their preparations. Former captain Mike Atherton said time in nets at the Gabba, scene of the second Test, was more useful.

“England have booked extra net sessions at the Gabba from Saturday, including under lights, and should benefit from that,” he wrote in The Times.

“There is also a significant difference in heat and humidity in Brisbane compared with Canberra.”