England head coach Brendon McCullum has conceded his side may have over-prepared for the second Ashes Test, which ended in a comprehensive eight-wicket defeat to Australia at the Gabba on Sunday.
The loss leaves the tourists trailing 2-0 in the five-match series, having already suffered a humiliating two-day collapse in Perth.
McCullum said: “If anything, we trained too much.”
He told the BBC: “We had five to 10 training sessions leading into this game. Sometimes there is a tendency to overdo things to make up for it.”
The coach emphasised that cricket “is played in the top two inches” and stressed the importance of mental freshness when making crucial decisions under pressure.
Captain Ben Stokes, who mounted stubborn resistance on the final day with a 152-ball half-century, has raised concerns about his team’s psychological approach during pivotal passages of play.
Stokes said: “They are all incredibly talented players but if you can’t put it down to a skill thing you start to wonder what is it?”
The all-rounder suggested England must examine their mindset when contests hang in the balance.
England head coach Brendon McCullum has conceded his side may have over-prepared for the second Ashes Test
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REUTERS
He added: “When we are on top we are great and when behind the game we are also very good but when that moment is neck and neck we are not coming out on top on enough occasions.”
Meanwhile, McCullum offered a frank assessment of England’s shortcomings, acknowledging they fell below the standards required to triumph on Australian soil.
“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,” he said.
The New Zealander also admitted his players were slow to adjust to conditions at Brisbane’s day-night fixture.
The loss leaves the tourists trailing 2-0 in the five-match series, having already suffered a humiliating two-day collapse in Perth
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PA
“From our point of view, we know we have to be better. We have to be a lot quicker to adapt to the conditions,” McCullum stated, with the third Test at Adelaide Oval scheduled for 17 December.
England’s struggles in Australia continue a dismal pattern.
The team has lost 15 of their past 17 Tests on Australian soil, drawing the other two.
The task facing Stokes and his players now appears almost insurmountable.
England’s struggles in Australia continue a dismal pattern
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PA
Only one side in nearly 150 years of Test cricket has recovered from a 2-0 deficit to claim a five-match series.
That solitary achievement belongs to Don Bradman’s Australia, who accomplished the feat during the 1936-37 home Ashes campaign.
England’s preparation for the series had already attracted scrutiny, with the tourists opting for just one intra-squad warm-up match before the opening Test.
