“We trained too much” - Brendon McCullum defends England after Pink-ball Test defeat

England suffered an eight-wicket loss in the pink-ball Test in Brisbane and are now trailing the ongoing Ashes series 0-2. After such a defeat, the team faced heavy criticism from former players and experts that the England players were “under prepared” for the pink-ball challenge.

The visitors played a pre-series warm-up match but then lost the series opener. After that, they had a pink-ball tour game in Canberra, but their first-team players did not take part, as the focus was more on spending time in the nets. Because of that approach, head coach Brendon McCullum faced criticism, but after the loss, he came out in defence. Speaking to the BBC, McCullum said that they trained too much but now need to find a better balance to be prepared both mentally and physically.

"If anything, we trained too much. We had five intense training sessions leading into this game," McCullum told. "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.”

"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," he added.

“There's no point feeling sorry for yourself” - McCullum

Speaking on Australia’s Channel 7, the England head coach added: "I actually feel like we over-prepared to be honest…I think the boys just need a few days off and we probably need to change up a few of the training methods."

After two back-to-back defeats, McCullum admitted how difficult it is to beat Australia on their home soil without being sharp in all three departments.

"We've been here before and we'll have to make sure we stay tight as a group and iron out a couple of the chinks we've shown over the last two Test matches," said McCullum. “It's very hard to beat Australia at home if you're going to be deficient in all three areas. We've got some work to do. There's no point feeling sorry for yourself, you pick yourself up and you go again."

The third Test is set to take place in Adelaide, starting on December 17, 2025.

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