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Pom's view: England prep "borders on arrogance"
SEN • November 12th, 2025 2:17 pm
England are ramping up for what many of their former stars believe is their best shot at winning an Ashes since 2011, but there's one element of their preparations that has not sat well with the older generation.
Ahead of the opening Test in Perth next week, England will play just one warm-up match against the England Lions.
The likes of Sir Geoffrey Boycott and Ian Botham have criticised the strategy, claiming that back in their day, far more focus would have been put on pre-Test match experience.
“It’s not the way I would prepare,” Botham said on the Old Boys, New Balls Podcast.
“I think historically, you have to acclimatise when you come down here and you have to remember there’s 24.5 million people you’re playing against, not 11.
“I’m worried. We’re going to wander in and have a little game with the ‘A’ team.
“Not one (state match), which borders on arrogance. You’ve got to give yourself the chance. They are saying we play too much cricket. I don’t think you play enough.
“The conditions are different when you play cricket in Australia: the sun, the heat, the bounce, the crowd, the Aussie players, you’ve got to get used to all that. You’re not playing against the Australian cricket team, you’re playing against Australia – 24.5 million people.”
Ashes are there for the taking and England have no excuses
Sir Geoffrey Boycott is not one for the quick preparations either saying England will have no on to blame but themselves if the Ashes does not go their way.
“England’s preparation has been madness,” Boycott wrote in a column for the UK Telegraph.
“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.
“I played in two Ashes-winning teams in Australia and I believe you need to be put under pressure so you can fine-tune your skills.
“Fierce, competitive matches are the best preparation for the tough Test cricket to come. This modern-day preparation borders on foolish to players of my generation.”
Broad defends short prep
While some have criticised the lead up to the opening Test at Optus Stadium, Stuart Broad offered the following explanation:
“I trust Rob Key and Brendon McCullum. England have started series incredibly well in recent times.
“They have won the first Test with good consistency lately and with little preparation.
“Times have changed. I understand ex-players saying it’s not enough preparation but the time frame of fitting things in is difficult. England just had an ODI series in NZ.
“If they came to Aus and wanted a competitive match here there’s Sheffield Shield this week, so you’re not dragging players out of that to play England when they’re playing for their spot in the XI.
“The time frame of being able to get quality hard cricket in Australia is difficult, so England have taken it into their own hands and flown Lions players out to play against them.
“Those young players are giving it everything to impress, England can control this too.
“If you play a state game Archer could bowl all day, in this case they can control what their players are doing.”
Australia’s ‘Dad’s Army’ Ashes squad: safe, seasoned, and unsurprising
According to Will Macpherson of the UK Telegraph, “there were no surprises gambles or smokies” in the squad which he goes on to claim not too dissimilar to the one named for the “doomed“ campaign of 2010-11.
“The first thing that stands out is the age of the squad,” Macpherson writes. “There is just one player, 26-year-old Cameron Green, who is in his 20s, while seven are north of 34. Many are labelling Australia “Dad’s Army”.
Just three members of the England squad are over the age of 31.
The Aussie's age has become such a point of focus, the UK Daily Star has offered free zimmer frames to any member of the Australian team.
