England coach Brendon McCullum failed to “read the room” in saying his side “overprepared” following defeat in the second Ashes Test in Brisbane, says Durham coach Ryan Campbell.

The tourists have been criticised for their preparation for this series, playing one intra-squad warm-up game before the first Test defeat in Perth and opting not to send any of the first XI to play in the Lions’ pink-ball day-night match against the Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra.

Instead England opted to acclimatise to the heat in Brisbane between Tests and had five training sessions leading up to the day-night match at the Gabba.

England are on a four-day break in Noosa, a resort town on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, before flying to Adelaide on Saturday to prepare for the third Test there, which starts on Wednesday, 17 December (23:30 GMT, 16 December).

“I kind of understand what McCullum’s saying, but he hasn’t read the room,” Campbell told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Ashes second Test review show.

“Are they that far in the bubble that they are not listening to all the fans?

“The fans seem very unhappy with the perception of England cricket. I know they work really hard, but I’m not sure you need to say we ‘overprepared’.”

Campbell said McCullum’s words do not tally with director of men’s cricket Rob Key calling for England to stop talking “rubbish” in interviews and post-match press conferences earlier this year, adding he cannot see how the New Zealander could defend his suggestion his side “trained too much” before the second Test.

However, former England bowler Sir James Anderson said he could see the reason behind McCullum’s comments.

“I obviously know why that’s wound people up, but I can see what he’s saying,” said Anderson, speaking on the Tailenders podcast.

He added that five days of practice before a Test that could last five days is “a lot”, with each net session possibly lasting up to two hours.

“Especially the bowlers, you want them to be fresh going into a game in Brisbane where it’s hot,” said Anderson.

“You’ve got to find the balance of getting stuff right and also having enough breaks so your body’s fresh and your mind is mentally ready to deal with five days of Test cricket.”

Anderson said he felt McCullum mentioning England would look at their training methods was a sign he wants to “focus on quality rather than quantity”.

He added: “It’s got to be intense, it’s got to be high energy, high quality. That’s how teams improve, that’s how players get better.”