England head coach Brendon McCullum defended his side’s “lack of preparation” for the Ashes 2025 against Australia following an eight-wicket hammering in the second Test at the Gabba, Brisbane, on Sunday. The hosts gained a 2-0 lead in the five-match series after Australia overhauled the target of 65 without breaking a sweat on the fourth day. Throughout the first two Tests, England have been criticised by former cricketers such as Sir Geoffrey Boycott, Ian Botham and Michael Vaughan for not doing enough in terms of preparation.
England lost the second Ashes Test by eight wickets. (AFP)
The visitors, who last won the Ashes in Australia in 2010-11, did not play a warm-up game before the start of the series, and even before the second Test, which was played with a pink ball, the management opted not to send any of their main players for the practice game at the Manuka Oval in Canberra. This has led to criticism mounting amid the threat of once again failing to regain the urn.
However, McCullum put all concerns to rest, saying his team probably “trained too much” before the pink ball game in Brisbane, saying his team needs to find a way to be prepared both physically and mentally.
“Not from a preparation point of view. If anything, we’ve probably trained too much to be honest. We’ve had five intense training sessions leading into this game, and that’s something as a coach you’ve got to make sure you’re aware of. I think sometimes there’s a tendency to want to overdo things to try and make up for it. But as we all know in this game, it’s playing the top two inches,” McCullum told BBC’s Test Match Special after the end of the Brisbane Test.
“We’ve got to find a way to be able to, we all have to find a way to be able to ensure that we feel prepared physically, we’re prepared technically, we’re prepared for the battle, we adjust to the conditions as quickly as we can. But also, make sure we’re fresh, and we’re ready, and we’re able to make those succinct decisions in the heat of the battle, which can win or lose games,” he added.
Stokes sounds dejected
England captain Ben Stokes tried his best to delay the inevitable on Day 4, hitting a gritty half-century. However, it was just a matter of time before Australia staged a comeback and got that famous win to go 2-0 up.
After the loss, Stokes said that his team would be required to find a way as Australia is a tough place to play and the need of the hour is to find some mental resolve.
“Australia keep outdoing us in those moments and they say Australia isn’t the place for weak men. We’re definitely not weak, but we need to find something because we’re 2-0 down now, we’ve got three more games to go and, yeah, we need to sort,” said Stokes.
“I have full belief in the players that are in there, the coaching staff and the people that are there to help make us better players and what else have we got to do? We know we’ve got to win these next three games. We have been 2-0 down before, so we know what we need to do and we ain’t going to shy away from the battle that we’ve got in front of us,” he added.