England captain Ben Stokes denied on Wednesday that his side were undercooked for the Ashes series against Australia after a chorus of criticism led by legends Ian Botham and Geoffrey Boycott.
England’s full squad only assembled in Perth last weekend, some coming from a white-ball series in New Zealand where they crashed 3-0, while others arrived in dribs and drabs.
They only have one red-ball warm-up game before the opening Test in Perth on November 21 — a three-day clash against a second-tier England A starting on Thursday.
In contrast, almost all of Australia’s Ashes squad have been playing domestic Sheffield Shield matches around the country.
Boycott wrote in a recent column for British newspaper The Telegraph that England’s preparations were “madness”.
“If they win in Australia it will be in spite of their lack of match practice, not because of it. Match practice would give them a better chance,” he said.
Botham last month said a lack of warm-ups against Australian state sides “borders on arrogance” and renewed his criticism this week.
“I think historically, you have to acclimatise when you come down here,” he said in Melbourne. “You’ve got to remember there’s 24 million people down here, not 11. And you have to take that on board.
“The ball does seem to get to you quicker [in Perth] and the light’s different. There’s all kinds of things go into the melting pot.”
But Stokes is adamant England are ready for what will be a gruelling five-Test showdown as they bid to win a first series in Australia since 2010-2011.
“I don’t really know what we’re supposed to do, to be honest,” said the talismanic all-rounder, who has not played any cricket since July after a shoulder injury.
“The schedule is pretty jam-packed to be able to sort of prepare the way our teams probably would have done 10-15-20-30 years ago. There’s a lot of factors that have changed over the years of cricket.
“So in terms of preparation, we’ve been preparing for this for a very long time. We put a lot of time and effort into how we prepare for every series, and that hasn’t changed with this one.
“So from the 21st of this month, we know that we would have put everything possible that we could have done to be in the right place.”
Assistant coach Marcus Trescothick also defended England’s lead-up, saying: “Times have dramatically changed in the way that cricket is done.
“If you look at the situation around the world, everyone does the same nowadays. You turn up, play a game and into the series you go.”
England, who last lifted the Ashes urn at home in 2015, have a terrible recent record in Australia, losing 13 of the last 15 Tests. The other two were drawn.
Stokes insisted past results meant little.
“They’re a phenomenal team, especially in their home, so we know the next two-and-a-half months is going to be tough for us,” he said of Australia.
“But I think all the series that have gone past, whether that be in Australia or England, I don’t think count for much.“
