England’s preparation for their second Ashes test may have been a case of too much training and not enough freshness, head coach Brendon McCullum said after his side slumped to another demoralising eight-wicket loss to Australia on Sunday.
The tourists went 2-0 down in the series after Australia made light work of a 65-run target at the Gabba, with local hero Michael Neser’s five-wicket haul setting up the victory that has left England staring at familiar heartbreak Down Under.
McCullum revealed his team may have been victims of their own thoroughness, conducting “five to 10 training sessions” in the extended break between tests after losing the opener in Perth inside two days.
When asked if England could have done anything differently, McCullum told BBC: “Not from a preparation point of view. If anything, we trained too much.
“Something as a coach you have to be aware of. 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,” he added.
“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.”
The defeat marked England’s 15th loss in their last 17 tests in Australia and Ben Stokes’s side now face the daunting prospect of overturning a 2-0 deficit, a feat achieved by only one team in nearly 150 years of test cricket — Don Bradman’s Australia in the 1936-37 home Ashes.
ENGLAND STRUGGLE TO ADAPT
McCullum acknowledged his team’s struggles to adapt after Australia bowled England out for 241 in their second innings of the day-night test.
“We have got some work to do. We have some time. We have been here before and there is no point feeling sorry for yourself. You pick yourself up and you go again,” McCullum added.
“We weren’t at our best. To beat Australia in Australia, you have to be at your best across all three disciplines and we weren’t. That is brutal honesty and we will wear that.
“From our point of view, we know we have to be better. We have to be a lot quicker to adapt to the conditions in Adelaide. I thought we were a bit slow to adapt to the conditions here.”
The third test at the Adelaide Oval begins on December 17.
(Reuters)
