Brendon McCullum claimed his England team were “overprepared” for the second Ashes Test, in which they suffered a crushing eight-wicket loss to Australia at the Gabba.
England headed into the second Test needing to show some fight after two days of defeat in the first Test in Perth, and while Joe Root scored his first century for Australia, England cruised to a clean win as they were able to beat Australia by 65 despite showing more resistance on the fourth day in Brisbane.
That total was chased down within 10 overs to give the hosts a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
Ahead of the second Test, questions were raised about England’s readiness to face the pink ball in a day-night Test, with some asking whether some of their struggling top batsmen should have headed to Canberra to play in the two-day match against the Prime Minister’s XI.
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Nasser Hussain was left dazed by Ollie Pope’s dismissal on the second day of the second Ashes Test.
But England decided against it and their batting continued to raise eyebrows after a top-order collapse late on day three left the tourists limping towards another heavy defeat.
Coach McCullum believes England actually trained “too much” ahead of the second Test and will now look at making a “fresh” change to their methods as they try to save the series in Adelaide from December 16.
“I’m going to have a beer tonight. To be honest, ahead of this Test match, I felt like we had prepared too much,” McCullum told 7Cricket.
“We had five days of intense training and sometimes in the heat of battle the most important thing is to feel a little refreshed and make sure your top two inches are completely healthy.
“I think the players just need a few days off and we may have to change a few things about our training methods.
“I’m a horse racer, and you don’t keep doing the same thing with a horse.
“We’ll be looking at some alternative options over the next few days. We’ll be spending a few days in Noosa so it will be nice to get a few days off the ground and sort out what’s been a pretty intense few weeks and start down the road back to the series.”
Ashes series 2025-26 in Australia
Always UK and Ireland
- First Test (Perth): Australia beat England by 8 wickets.
- Second test (day/night): Australia beat England by 8 wickets.
- Third test: Wednesday 17 December – Sunday 21 December (11.30pm) – Adelaide Oval
- Fourth test: Thursday 25 December – Monday 29 December (11.30pm) – Melbourne Cricket Ground
- Fifth test: Sunday 4 January – Thursday 8 January (11.30pm) – Sydney Cricket Ground
